I 


PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


Library  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge.  Presented. 


BX  5131.2  .T35x 

Tait,   Archibald  Can5>bell, 

1811-1882  . 
The  church  of  the  future 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/churchoffutureOOtait_0 


/- 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE: 
a  Bt'otcsan  QTIjarae. 

A.D.  iSSo. 


THE 


C 


HURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 


I.  ITS  CATHOLICITY 
a.  ITS   CONFLICT  WITH 
THE  ATHEIST 

3.  ITS   CONFLICT  WITH 

THE  DEIST 

4.  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH 

THE  RATIONALIST 


5.  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING 


6.  PRACTICAL  COUNSELS 
FOR  ITS  WORK 


7.  ITS  CATHEDRALS 

8.  APPENDICES 


ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL 
^tct)bisJ)op  of  (ZTanuibuvs 


NEW  YORK 

MACMILLAN  AND  CO., 
1881. 


CONTENTS. 
I. 

Its  Catholicity   i 

II. 

Its  Conflict  with  the  Atheist  31 

III. 

Its  Conflict  with  the  Deist  57 

IV. 

Its  Conflict  with  the  Rationalist  87 

V. 

ITS  UoGJiATic  Teaching  114 

VI. 

Practical  Counsels  for  its  Work  139 


vi  CONTENTS. 


VII. 

PAGE 

Address  to  the   Members  of  the  Cathedral 

Body  167 

VIII. 

Appendices  203 


THE 

CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


I. 

ITS  'catholicity. 

{^Delivered  at  Croydon,  on  August  31^/,  to  the 
Rural  Deajierics  of  Croydon,  East  Dartjord,  and 
West  Dartford.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren,  and  my 
Brethren  the  Churchwardens, — I  have 
determined,  under  our  peculiar  circumstances, 
not  to  follow  the  usual  arrangement  of  those 
episcopal  charges  which  give  special  prominence 
to  matters  immediately  concerning  the  diocese 
in  which  they  are  delivered.  I  have  thought  it 
best  for  several  reasons  to  ask  the  clergy  to  send 

13 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[I. 


in  their  returns  to  my  visitation  questions  not 
before,  but  during  the  actual  visitation  ;  and  I 
propose,  according  to  my  practice  since  I  be- 
came Archbishop,  to  make  the  answers  to  these 
questions  a  subject  of  future  private  correspon- 
dence between  myself  and  the  clergy,  rather 
than  to  incorporate  the  results  of  them  in  my 
charge. 

The  circumstances  of  this  archicpiscopal 
diocese  are  altogether  peculiar,  and  are  be- 
coming every  year  more  so.  I  do  not  know 
how  it  will  ever  be  possible  hereafter  for  an 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  dispense  with  such 
assistance  as  has  now  for  many  years  been 
kindly  and  efficiently  given  both  to  you  and  to 
me  by  the  Suffragan  Bishop  of  Dover.  Every 
year  Lambeth  is  becoming  more  and  more  a 
centre  to  which  the  whole  Anglican  communion 
directly  looks  ;  and  that  communion  seems  to 
me  to  be  more  and  more  every  year  becoming 
itself  a  centre  for  all  the  Churches  of  Christen- 
dom which  protest  against  Roman  usurpation. 
The  result  is  that  the  work  of  the  Primacy,  as 


I.]  ITS  CA  THOLICITY.  3 

distinguished  from  the  work  of  the  Diocesan 
Bishop  of  Canterbury,  is  every  year  greatly  in- 
creasing. There  are  at  least  162  bishops  of  the 
English,  or  Anglican,  communion  with  dioceses 
scattered  throughout  the  world,  and,  with  all  of 
these,  more  or  less,  I  find  it  necessary  to  be  in 
communication.  You  are  aware  that  two  years 
ago  one  hundred  of  these  fathers  of  the  Church 
gathered  at  Lambeth  for  a  month's  deliberation ; 
and  you  will  remember  the  expressions  of  filial 
regard  with  which  that  great  assembly  of  bishops 
met  to  worship  in  our  metropolitical  cathedral 
at  Canterbury,  and  called  to  mind  the  associa- 
tions which  bound  them  to  the  birthplace  of 
what  we  commonly  call  Anglo-Saxon  Chris- 
tianity. I  shall  have  to  mention  to  you  hereafter 
some  of  the  important  results  of  that  episcopal 
gathering,  felt  both  here  at  home  and  in  the 
remotest  regions  where  our  English  tongue  is 
spoken.  These,  you  will  readily  believe,  are 
not  brought  to  accomplishment  without  much 
labour.  There  is  necessarily  much  communica- 
tion between  the  Bishops  of  India   and  t'.ie 


4  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


colonies  and  the  chief  guiding  authorities  of 
our  own  Church  at  home.  And  our  brethren 
of  the  United  States  of  America  have,  ever 
since  Archbishop  Longley's  wise  resolve  to  in- 
vite them  to  the  first  conference  at  Lambeth,  so 
far  thrown  in  their  lot  with  us  that  their  work 
and  ours  has  become  more  directly  intertwined 
by  distinct  relations  of  friendship  and  co-opera- 
tion. Moreover,  the  generation  in  which  we 
live  has  awakened  to  a  more  real  understanding 
than  its  predecessor  of  the  force  of  the  German 
proverb — that  "  behind  the  hills  (and  we  may 
add  beyond  the  seas)  there  are  people,"  Chris- 
tian people,  with  an  old  descent,  quite  uncon- 
nected in  their  origin  with  either  Rome  or 
Canterbury — with  the  same  episcopal  form  of 
government  as  ourselves,  cherishing  the  old 
liturgies,  which  are  the  basis  of  our  Common 
Prayer — Christians  who  have  maintained  their 
faith  through  long  centuries  of  oppression,  whose 
trials  have  been  such  as  we  Englishmen,  thank 
God,  have  never  been  exposed  to,  and  who  at 
the  jiresent  day  stretch  out  tlieir  hands  to 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


5 


England  with  an  earnestness  of  supplication 
inspired  by  a  confidence  of  help  unknown  in 
former  times. 

Let  mere  worldly  politicians  dispute  as  to  the 
wisdom  or  unwisdom  of  England's  undertaking 
great  responsibilities  to  help  the  distressed,  and 
extend  the  blessings  of  civilisation  through  the 
suffering  tribes  in  those  dark  regions  in  Asia,  in 
which  practically  there  is  no  law  and  no  justice, 
no  liberty,  and  no  security  of  property,  or  even 
life  —  we  English  Churchmen  can  have  no 
doubt  of  our  duty  as  Christians  to  do  all  in  our 
power  to  remedy  these  detestable  evils,  when 
they  are  brought  distinctly  to  our  notice.  The 
Churches  of  the  East,  one  after  another— Syrian, 
Armenian,  Chaldean,  Nestorian  —  implore  our 
aid.  The  boon  asked  of  us  by  some  of  these 
communities,  is  that  we  give  them  help  to  ra'se 
themselves  by  education,  and  secure  for  them 
that  respect  from  their  persecutors  which  they 
believe  the  very  name  of  a  connection  with  Eng- 
land will  insure.  Blessed  fruit  of  that  great 
position  to  which  the  kindness  of  our  God  has 


6 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[I- 


raised  our  nation,  that  even  in  these  remote 
regions  the  public  opinion  of  Christian  England 
is  not  without  its  force  ;  and  that  people  who 
are  known  to  have  a  clergyman  of  the  English 
Church  among  them  feel  nearly  as  secure  as  if 
they  were  under  the  protection  of  some  regular 
emissary  of  the  English  State  !  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  scarcely  a  week  passes  without  some  touch- 
ing appeal  reaching  Lambeth  from  these  dis- 
tressed Oriental  Christians.  No  wide-spread 
spiritual  work,  testifying  to  our  Christian  bro- 
therhood, has  yet  been  done  among  them  but 
by  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Indepen- 
dents. All  honour  to  these  good  men  for  the 
efforts  they  have  steadily  pursued  for  so  many 
years,  to  the  quiet  efficacy  of  which  testimony 
is  borne  by  the  authorities  of  our  Foreign  Office. 
Besides  our  intercourse  with  the  comparatively 
small  Oriental  Churches  or  sects  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  we  have  growing  relations  also 
with  the  great  divisions  of  the  Greek  Church  in 
Russia,  in  Turkey,  and  in  Greece — with  the  par- 
tially independent  Bulgarian  Greek  Church,  and 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


7 


with  the  Coptic  Church  of  Egypt  and  Abyssinia. 
There  is  also  that  large  body  of  native 
Christians  unconnected  with  Rome,  on  the 
coast  of  Malabar,  which  has  long  claimed  the 
interest  and  the  sympathy  of  our  missionaries 
in  India. 

But  why  do  I  recount  the  names  of  all  these 
Eastern  Churches,  some  of  which  are  compara- 
tively little  known  ?  Not  only  to  let  you  under- 
stand how  the  circle  of  our  Church's  influence  is 
widen inp",  but  also  that  I  may  press  upon  you 
the  duty  of  carefully  considering  their  claims. 
It  is  right,  as  I  have  often  said  before,  that  we 
should  have  in  every  parish  some  organization 
to  promote  our  missionary  work  among  the 
heathen,  and  we  call  to  mind  with  thankfulness 
how  our  great  Church  societies  have  helped 
forward  the  efforts  which  England  is  bound  to 
make  to  spread  the  Gospel  in  lands  where 
Christ  is  utterly  unknown.  England  has  its 
commercial  and  colonizing  relations  with  every 
part  of  the  globe,  and  Englishmen  cannot  escape 
from  the  responsibility  of  sending  the  knowledge 


8       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


of  Christian  truth  to  those  who  He  in  utter 
darkness.  Our  great  societies,  as  I  have  said, 
such  as  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  and  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  are 
the  true  handmaids  of  our  Church  in  this  portion 
of  its  work — and  one  or  other,  if  not  both,  of 
these  societies,  I  consider  that  every  earnest- 
minded  Churchman  is  bound  directly  to  support 
according  to  his  means.  But  in  our  zeal  for 
the  heathen  we  are  not  to  overlook  our  fellow- 
Christians.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in- 
deed, separates  itself  from  us  by  so  sharp  a 
line  of  arrogant  exclusiveness,  built  on  a  super- 
structure of  false  doctrine,  that  our  hopes  of 
influencing  it  must  be  very  slight  unless  some 
fundamental  change  be  made  in  its  whole 
system.  But  these  Oriental  Christians  show 
a  lively  interest  in  our  co-operation,  and  have 
of  late  years  expressed  their  desire  to  know 
more  of  us,  and  to  act  with  us  in  a  fraternal 
spirit.  We  shall  do  well  then,  to  support  the 
efforts  of  which  Lambeth  is  in  a  sort  the 
centre,  for  encouraging  such  attempts  to  foster 


I.]  ITS  CATHOLICITY.  g 

a  truer  brotherhood  between  ourselves  and  these 
scattered  Christian  communities. 

Not  that  we  are  to  neglect  our  duties  to 
our  Roman  Cathohc  brethren,  or  to  those 
who  are  labouring  to  free  themselves  from 
the  Roman  yoke.  Public  attention  has  been 
much  directed  of  late  years  to  the  German 
and  Swiss  movement  of  those  who,  having 
joined  the  old  Jansenist  Community  of  Holland 
in  resisting  the  new  Vatican  decrees,  claim 
for  themselves  the  name  of  Old  Catholics ; 
and  the  English  Church  looks  with  sympathy 
and  interest  to  the  result  of  this  movement 
But  not  in  Germany  and  Switzerland  alone  are 
there  symptoms  of  a  revolt  against  undue 
Papal  pretensions.  Many  of  you  are  aware 
that  our  sister  Church  in  the  United  States  has 
lately  availed  itself  of  the  peculiar  condition 
of  affairs  in  Mexico  to  foster  there  an  inde- 
pendent Spanish-speaking  Church,  which  in 
the  towns  at  least  of  that  country  has  made 
rapid  progress  among  those  who  before  had 
little   choice    left   to   them   except  between 


lO       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


infidelity  and  a  very  debased  form  of  Romanism. 
Tlie  conference  of  bishops  at  Lambeth  heard 
the  account  of  this  movement,  as  well  as  of  that 
in  the  small  Republic  of  Hayti,  with  deep  in- 
terest ;  and,  as  representations  had  been  made 
from  Spain  that  there  were  many  earnest 
Christians  there,  desiring  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  new-born  religious  liberty  of  their  country, 
the  assembled  bishops  gave  their  sanction  to 
the  extension  of  the  Mexican  movement  from 
America  to  the  mother  country  from  which 
Mexico  derived  its  Christianity.  Bishop  Riley, 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Mexico, 
a  man  who  has  the  singular  advantage,  from  his 
birth  and  education,  of  being  equally  well  versed 
in  the  English  and  in  the  Spanish  languages,  has 
just  returned  from  his  visit  to  the  congregations 
of  protesting  Christians  in  Spain  and  Portugal, 
and  reports  that  there  is  good  hope  of  a  real 
and  widely-spread  work  of  reformation,  under 
Protestant  episcopal  auspices,  in  these  countries. 
In  France,  where  Ultramontane  Romanism  holds 
scarcely  disputed  sway  as  the  national  protest 


I.]  ITS  CA  TIIOLICITY.  I  I 

against  infidelity,  such  efforts  are  naturally 
small,  and,  as  yet,  feeble.  But  I  cannot  doubt 
that  we  are  right  to  give  the  sanction  of  our 
help  to  individual  priests  who,  amid  a  thousand 
difficulties,  are  feeling  their  way  to  a  purer  form 
of  the  old  Galilean  national  Church.  I  do  not 
think  that  such  efforts  will  in  any  way  interfere 
with  the  progress  of  French  Protestantism,  in 
which  England  is  so  much  interested,  and  with 
which  the  Cathedral  and  Diocese  of  Canterbury 
maintain  a  historical  connection.  These  various 
efforts  after  internal  reform  in  the  several 
Churches  greatly  increase  our  responsibilities, 
and  I  commend  them  to  the  careful  attention 
of  all  true-hearted  English  Churchmen.  The 
time  has  gone  by  when  we  could  rest  contented 
in  our  insular  position. 

I  have  spoken  hitherto  of  those  who  are 
united  with  us  in  the  episcopal  form  of  govern- 
ment. But  I  suppose  we  none  of  us  forget 
how  much  the  Church  of  England  owes  in  its 
formularies  to  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  how 
little  chance  there  would  have  been,  humanly 


I  2        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 

speaking,  of  the  Reformation  spreading  with 
power  if  God  had  not  raised  up  its  champion 
in  Luther.  Neither  are  we  forgetful  how,  in  the 
persecution  under  Mary  Tudor,  our  true-hearted 
Reformers  found  a  refuge  .in  Switzerland  till 
the  tyranny  was  overpast,  nor  how  there  has 
ever  been,  since  those  days,  a  bond  of  cordial 
union,  independent  of  outward  forms,  uniting 
the  wisest  spirits  of  the  Church  of  England  with 
the  literary  and  theological  labours  of  German, 
French,  and  Swiss  Protestants.  We  may  speak 
of  an  anticipated  union  with  distant  Oriental 
Christians,  but  these  men  are  our  brethren 
already,  learning  from  our  teaching  as  we  learn 
from  theirs,  united  with  us  in  the  acceptance 
of  those  great  truths  of  the  freedom  of  the 
Gospel,  which  they  and  we,  notwithstanding  all 
our  differences,  national  and  ecclesiastical,  have 
alike  derived  from  dwelling  on  the  writings  and 
imbibing  the  spirit  of  St.  Paul.  The  Swedish 
Lutheran  Church,  it  is  well  known,  claims  to 
live  under  the  same  outward  government  as  our 
own  ;   and  the  great  Moravian  body,  spread 


1.] 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


through  Germany  and  known  throughout  the 
world  by  its  missionary  efforts  among  the 
heathen,  makes  a  hkc  claim.  The  boundaries 
of  separation,  then,  between  us  and  Continental 
Protestants  who  hold  fast  by  the  fundamentals 
of  the  Gospel,  fade  to  an  indistinct  line  ;  and 
shall  we  not,  from  our  necessary  connection 
with  these,  learn  many  lessons  to  guide  us  in 
our  dealings  with  our  nonconforming  brethren 
at  home  and  their  representatives  in  the  United 
States  of  America  ?  In  fact,  it  will  be  our 
fault  if  the  great  Protestant  communities 
throughout  the  world,  episcopal  and  non- 
episcopal,  which  adhere  to  the  apostolic  faith, 
do  not  feel  that  their  cause  is  indissolubly 
united  with  our  own. 

At  home,  important  questions  of  policy  may 
keep  us  apart.  Certainly  it  is  our  duty  to 
resist  all  efforts  for  subverting  that  national 
constitution  of  our  Church,  which  makes  it 
the  authorised  teacher  of  all  our  people,  and 
the  mouthpiece  through  which  our  common 
Christianity  speaks  in  all  our  public  acts  as 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


a  State.  Also,  it  is  impossible  to  have  a  near 
union  of  worship  and  teaching  with  those  who 
altogether  repudiate  our  forms  of  prayer  and 
of  Church  government,  and  look  upon  many 
of  the  statements  made  by  our  Church  as 
superstitious  and  ungodly.  But  not  the  less 
is  it  our  duty,  where  we  can,  to  cultivate 
friendly  relations  with  them,  an  .  draw  them  to 
us,  by  the  manifestation  of  a  real  Christian 
spirit,  while  we  look  out  for  occasions  on  which 
notwithstanding  o«r  differences,  we  may  act 
together  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  nations. 
The  Church  of  Christ  throughout  the  world 
would,  it  must  be  remembered,  be  deprived 
of  a  vast  proportion  of  its  worshippers,  if  we 
left  out  of  sight  our  Christian  brotherhood 
with  non-episcopal  congregations  at  home,  and 
the  overwhelming  mass  of  such  congregations 

'  I  have  myself  been  for  thirty  years  a  member  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  which  enables  Church- 
men and  Dissenters  so  to  co-operate  in  the  great  work 
of  circulating  the  word  of  God.  The  Society  contains 
among  its  vice-presidents  the  names  of  some  forty 
Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England. 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


15 


in  the  United  States  of  America.  Thus  I 
crust  we  Enghsh  Churchmen  are  learning  more 
and  more  to  reahse  once  again  that  great 
idea  which  was  so  powerful  of  old  to  stir  men's 
hearts  and  make  them  help  each  other — that 
there  is  a  vast  community  cemented  by 
Christian  faith  and  principle,  which,  amid  all 
national  and  other  special  differences,  joins 
together  the  whole  body  of  those  who  worship 
God  in  Christ. 

I  would  here  remark,  in  connection  with 
this  subject,  that  what  is  commonly  called 
the  Oxford  revival  of  forty  or  fifty  years  ago 
conferred  many  benefits  on  English  society. 
Not  only  do  we  owe  to  it  a  more  reverent 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  outward  forms 
of  religion,  but  it  greatly  changed  that  large 
section  of  the  clergy  who,  ever  since  the  days 
of  the  Commonwealth,  have  inherited  a  horror 
of  Puritanism,  and  who,  under  recent  teach- 
ing, have  risen  from  the  careless  indifference 
which  characterised  their  predecessors  to  a 
rigid  observance  of  the  duties  of  their  sacred 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[I. 


calling.  Still  more,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
uniting  good  taste  with  genuine  Christian 
feeling,  this  revival  laid  hold  of  the  imagina- 
tion of  many  ardent  and  highly  cultivated 
young  men  who  have  since  risen  to  important 
public  positions,  and  under  its  guidance  have 
exercised  a  lasting  Christian  influence  on  our 
whole  nation.  Still  I  think  this  must  be 
granted  on  the  other  hand — that  the  teaching 
thus  introduced  or  resuscitated,  notwithstanding 
all  its  claims  to  Catholicity,  was  and  is  based 
on  a  somewhat  narrow  system,  and  has  con- 
fined Churchmen's  sympathies  in  the  direction 
in  which  before  they  were  ready  to  expand. 
My  predecessors  in  the  Episcopate  had,  I 
think,  less  difficulty  than  we  should  experience 
nowadays  in  welcoming  the  co-operation  of 
such  men  as  was  Robert  Hall  in  the  days 
of  our  fathers,  and  wishing  them  God-speed 
in  their  labours  to  resist  prevailing  infidelity. 
Let  me  note  here  that  the  passing  of  the 
Lord  Chancellor's  Burials  Bill  has  been  looked 
forward  to  by  some  of  us  as  likely,  not  only 


I.]  ITS  CA  THOLICITY.  \  7 

to  put  an  end  to  a  painful  controversy,  but 
alsr^to  have  something  of  a  healing  effect  in 
reference  to  the  general  relations  of  Churchmen 
and  Nonconformists,  as  it  certainly  has  been 
the  desire  of  those  who  have  supported  the 
measure  to  make  it  contain  concessions  to  the 
claims  of  both  sides  in  the  controversy.  How 
far  this  charitable  wish  may  be  fulfilled  is 
of  course  uncertain  ;  but  I  am  very  confident 
that  the  good  feeling  of  the  majority  of  our 
clergy,  when  a  certain  amount  of  soreness,  not 
unnaturally  engendered  by  the  controversy,  has 
passed,  will  lead  them  fairly  and  generously 
to  endeavour  to  secure  whatever  good  in  this 
respect  the  measure  may  be  capable  of  pro- 
ducing. The  existence  of  dissent  from  the 
National  Church  is  a  fact  which  we  cannot 
overlook.  We  deplore  it,  but  we  cannot  act 
as  if  there  were  no  such  thing  in  the  land 
as  dissent  on  the  part  of  good  men  ;  and 
I  am  sure  that  we  all  feel  it  our  duty  to 
meet  the  inevitable  state  of  circumstances 
in   which   we   find    ourselves    in   a  tolerant, 

C 


1 8        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


Christian  spirit.  After  all,  it  is  something  to 
live  in  a  country  the  whole  inhabitants  of 
which,  speaking  roughly,  acknowledge  one 
Lord  and  Saviour,  and  refer  to  one  Bible 
as  the  one  accredited  rule  of  their  life  and 
citizenship. 

I  cannot  help  here  remarking  what  an  evi- 
dence to  a  real  and  wide-spread  Catholicity  is 
afforded  by  the  hymns  which  we  use  in  public 
worship.  The  strains  in  which  we  Church  of 
England  people  sing  God's  praises  are  drawn 
from  the  most  diverse  sources.  We  hear  in 
them  the  ever-living  voices  of  early  Chris- 
tian fathers,  of  mediaeval  saints,  of  Lutheran 
reformers,  of  some  modern  Roman  Catholics, 
and  of  many  English  and  American  Noncon- 
formists. These  all  unite  with  our  own  Church's 
poets  and  divines  of  every  school  in  raising  our 
thoughts  in  our  holiest  moments  to  the  throne, 
of  God.^  An  outward  unity  is  indeed  much  to 
be  desired,  but  we  must  not  sacrifice  too  much 
to  it,  or  neglect,  because  of  our  points  of  diffcr- 
'  See  Appendix  A. 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


19 


ence,  whatever  may  unite  us  with  all  who  hold 
fast  by  the  faith  of  the  Apostolic  and  Nicene 
Creeds.  For  myself,  in  the  office  which,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  I  have  held  now  for  nearly 
twelve  years,  I  have  certainly  never  experienced 
any  unwillingness,  on  the  part  of  our  country- 
men without  our  pale,  to  pay  to  the  Church 
of  England  that  deference  which  all  Protestant 
Christendom  awards  it,  as  the  chief  bulwark  of 
the  reformed  faith  against  the  assaults,  on  one 
side,  of  superstition,  and,  on  the  other,  of  an 
aggressive  infidelity. 

From  what  I  have  said,  you  will,  I  think, 
grant  that  I  am  justified  in  regarding  it  as  my 
duty,  in  a  solemn  address  from  this  chair,  to 
speak  of  things  which  concern  the  whole  Church 
of  Christ,  and  not  to  confine  our  view  too  much 
to  the  separate  interests  of  our  own  diocese,  or 
even  to  our  own  English  branch  of  the  Church 
universal.  But  before  I  go  into  the  questions 
concerning  the  Church  of  Christ  in  general,  to 
which  I  hope  to  direct  much  of  what  I  have 
to  address  to  you  at  the  several  stations  of  my 

C  2 


20 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[I. 


progress  through  the  diocese,  it  will  naturally 
be  expected  that  I  should  say  something  as  to 
the  present  position  of  our  own  Church,  in  re- 
ference to  controversies  which  have  of  late  much 
agitated  it,  and  have  given  occasion  to  our  ad- 
versaries to  look  upon  us  with  scorn.  I  am 
thankful  to  say  that  I  believe  the  agitations  of 
the  past  years  are  subsiding,  and  that  our 
Church  may  now  soon  be  allowed  to  brace 
itself  with  undivided  energy  to  the  great  conflict 
of  these  latter  days.  Sad,  indeed,  if  souls  should 
be  perishing  around  us  while  we  are  engaged 
in  conflicts  about  mint,  and  anise,  and  cumin  ! 
The  Mutines  of  Jerusalem  fought  with  one 
another  within  the  walls,  and  the  enemy  stormed 
their  gates.  "A  house  divided  against  itself 
cannot  stand."  I  trust  we  are  coming  to  the 
end  of  our  late  unhappy  divisions  within  our 
own  Church.  It  is  commonly  said  that  the 
Public  Worship  Regulation  Act  has  altogether 
failed  of  its  purpose.  I  must  be  allowed,  as 
its  chief  promoter,  to  say  that  this  is  not  so. 
Those  who   make   such   a  statement  do  not 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


21 


rightly  apprehend  what  its  purpose  was.  Its 
promoters  never  desired  that  it  should  produce  a 
crop  of  convictions  and  of  punishments  inflicted 
upon  wrong-headed,  conscientious  men.  What 
they  desired  was  to  put  a  stop  to  a  state  of 
things — common  and  growing  six  years  ago — 
by  which  every  raw  theologian,  visiting  Belgium 
or  some  other  neighbouring  Roman  Catholic 
country,  came  back  laden  with  a  crop  of  very 
doubtful  innovations,  which  he  sought  to  intro- 
duce into  his  own  parish  as  an  improvement 
on  the  authorised  mode  of  worship,  to  the  great 
annoyance  and  scandal  of  his  sober-minded 
parishioners.  I  think  we  may  congratulate  our- 
selves that  this  state  of  things  has  come  to  an 
end.  The  voice  of  the  nation,  tested  in  Parlia- 
ment by  the  introduction  of  the  measure  I  have 
alluded  to,  has  proved  itself,  in  this  repcct,  to 
be  the  voice  of  the  Church  as  well  as  the  voice 
of  the  nation.  We  desired,  by  the  provisions 
of  the  measure,  both  as  it  was  at  first  devised 
by  the  bishops,  and  also  as  it  was  finally  carried 
in  Parliament,  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the 


22        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


b  shops  the  controlling  power  as  to  whether  or 
no  a  new  practice  might  innocently  be  intro- 
d  iced  consistently  with  the  spirit  and  teaching 
of  the  Church.  Some  had  advocated  that  there 
ought  to  be  no  changes  under  any  circumstances 
from  the  established  usage  of  each  parish  ;  but 
this,  we  saw,  would  be  fatal  to  the  desirable 
progress  of  improvement  in  many  parishes,  and 
in  others  would  secure  an  immunity  for  unau- 
thorised and  dangerous  alterations  in  the  form 
of  worship  sanctioned  by  the  Prayer-Book,  if 
they  had  already  been  introduced.  It  was 
hoped,  indeed,  that  a  ready  and  inexpensive 
method  of  applying  the  law  of  the  Church 
when  necessary  had  been  secured,  and  no  doubt 
this  was  done  by  the  simplifying  of  process 
and  the  limitation  of  the  number  of  Courts 
through  which  a  trial  can  go,  and  by  dis- 
pensing with  any  necessity  for  the  'ntervention 
of  counsel  or  proctors  in  the  conduct  of  a  case. 
Experience,  however,  has  proved  that  no 
precautions  can  prevent  an  undue  expendi- 
ture both  of  time  and  money,  wlien  excited 


I]  ITS  CATHOLICITY.  23 

partisans  are  determined  to  call  to  their  aid 
the  first  lawyers  of  the  day,  and  contest  every 
inch  of  ground.  There  have  been  very  few 
trials  under  the  Public  Worship  Regulation 
Act — about  six  in  all,  in  six  years  ;  but  the 
effect  of  these,  even  where  unforeseen  difficul- 
ties have  intervened,  has  been  to  make  other- 
wise thoughtless  persons  think  twice  before 
they  embroil  themselves  in  all  the  difficulties 
which  the  commencement  of  a  suit  would 
necessarily  throw  in  the  way  of  their  highest 
spiritual  usefulness  in  their  parishes.  The  Act 
was  acceptable  to  the  laity  of  the  Church, 
because  it  recognised  distinctly  their  right  to 
be  heard  in  matters  concerning  the  common 
worship  of  their  parish  churches  ;  and  yet  it 
left  with  the  bishops,  as  guardians  of  the  rights 
both  of  laity  and  clergy,  the  duty  of  controlling 
and  rejecting  all  vexatious  and  unnecessary 
complaints.  I  would  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  last  decision  on  appeal,  from  a 
case  not  commenced  under  the  Public  Worship 
Regulation  Act,  has  confirmed  the  b'shop  in 


24        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


the  possession  of  a  similar  discretion  in  all 
cases.' 

With  the  bishops,  then,  according  both  to 
the  old  and  the  new  process  for  securing 
uniformity  of  worship,  it  now  rests  to  deter- 
mine, in  every  case  of  complaint,  what  degree 
of  departure  from  the  letter  of  the  law  of  the 
Church  is  not  inconsistent  with  loyal  adhesion 
to  the  spirit  of  that  law,  and  what  innovations 
go  beyond  the  boundary.  No  clergyman  can, 
in  such  cases,  be  prosecuted,  unless  he  has 
deliberately  resolved  to  repudiate  the  authority 
of  his  bishop.  The  old  theory  of  the  Church 
of  England,  as  embodied  in  our  rubrics,  con- 
templates the  reference  of  all  such  cases  to 
the  decision  of  the  bishop  ;  and  to  the  calm 
decisions  of  the  bishops  exercising  a  discretion 
secured  to  them  by  law,  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  Churchmen  are  ready  to  submit. 
It  is  to  be  noted  that,  as  might  be  expected, 

1  See  the  judginent  of  the  House  of  Lords,  in  the 
case  of  Julius  v.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  and  Another, 
delivered  March  23rd,  1880. 


1] 


/rS  CA  THOLICITY. 


25 


the  hundred  bishops  assembled  at  Lambeth 
two  years  ago,  representing  a  great  variety 
of  opinions,  and  with  various  prepossessions, 
agreed  that  such  deference  to  the  constituted 
authority  of  each  diocese  was  essential  to  an 
Episcopal  Church.  Their  resolution  was  to 
the  following  effect : — "  Considering  unhappy 
disputes  on  questions  of  ritual,  whereby  divers 
congregations  in  the  Church  of  England  and 
elsewhere  have  been  seriously  disquieted,  your 
committee  (and  the  assembled  bishops  adopted 
the  decision)  desire  to  affirm  the  principle  that 
no  alteration  from  long-accustomed  ritual 
should  be  made  contrary  to  the  admonition 
of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese."^  And  subse- 
quently both  Houses  of  the  Convocation  of 
Canterbury,  following  previous  resolutions  from 
both  Canterbury 2  and  York,^  adopted*  a  like 
resolution.  Wherever,  then,  the  Church  has 
spoken,  the  solution  of  the  difficulty  has  been 


1  Sec  the  official  "  Letter  "  of  the  Lambeth  Conference, 
1878,  p.  40.  -  Feb.  15th,  1867. 

^  March  20th,  1867.  "  July  4th,  1879. 


26        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


the  same,  and  this  solution  has  now  received 
the  sanction  both  of  the  legislature  and  of  the 
highest  judicial  tribunal.  We  have  then,  a 
doubly  authoritative  answer  to  the  question — 
How  are  the  clergy  at  once  to  have  pressed 
upon  them  the  duty  of  a  loyal  obedience  to 
the  Acts  of  Uniformity  and  other  laws  regulat- 
ing Church  affairs,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
be  allowed  such  liberty  in  the  letter  of  obedi- 
ence as  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  their 
parishes  seem  to  require  ?  The  oft-quoted 
words  of  the  Preface  to  the  Prayer-Book  had 
long  ago  laid  down  that  "forasmuch  as  no- 
thing can  be  so  plainly  set  forth,  but  doubts 
may  arise  in  the  use  and  practice  of  the  same, 
to  appease  all  such  diversity,  if  any  arise,  and 
for  the  resolution  of  all  doubts  concerning  the 
manner  how  to  understand,  do,  and  execute  the 
things  contained  in  this  Book,  the  parties 
that  so  doubt  or  diversely  take  anything  shall 
always  resort  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese, 
who  by  his  discretion  shall  take  order  for  the 
quieting  and  appeasing  of  the  same ;  so  that 


I] 


nS  CATHOLICITY. 


27 


the  same  order  be  not  contrary  to  anything 
contained  in  this  Book.  And  if  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese  be  in  doubt,  then  he  may  send 
for  the  resolution  thereof  to  the  archbishop." 
And,  as  we  have  seen,  the  spirit  of  this  deter- 
mination has  now  been  formally  embodied  in 
the  resolutions  of  the  hundred  b'shops  at 
Lambeth,  and  of  the  two  Houses  of  the  Con- 
vocation of  Canterbury,  as  well  as  in  the 
decisions  of  the  highest  court  of  the  realm. 
The  result  thus  arrived  at  has  appeared  to 
Churchmen  of  various  shades  of  opinion  so 
consonant  with  Church  principles,  that  we  have 
before  us  the  example  of  one  of  the  most 
devoted  and  widely  respected  leaders  of  that 
section  of  the  Church  which  has  given  its 
special  attention  to  the  claims  of  what  is 
called  "  Catholic  ritual,"  publicly  acquiescing  in 
the  decision  of  his  bishop,  though  at  the 
sacrifice  of  retiring  from  a  field  of  labour 
\vh!ch  was  very  dear  to  him.  The  clergy  of 
the  English  Church  have  ever,  in  times  past, 
been    distinguished    for   their   loyalty,  their 


28        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


devotion  to  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the 
well-ordered  Church  and  realm  to  which  they 
are  proud  to  belong,  and  their  willingness 
to  sacrifice  their  individual  tastes  and  opinions, 
if  need  be,  to  the  maintenance  of  good  order 
and  good  government.  In  this  respect  the 
best  sons  of  our  Church  in  the  present  day  arc 
not  below  their  fathers.  Some  may  prolong 
strife  by  raising  objections  to  the  authority  of 
the  courts  which  have  interpreted  the  laws  of 
the  Church.  But  even  these  must  soon  retire 
from  their  totally  untenable  position,  when  they 
are  forced  to  acknowledge  that,  whatever  they 
may  think  of  the  decisions  of  any  court — 
secular,  ecclesiastical,  or  mixed  —  it  is  with 
their  bishops,  to  whom  they  have  sworn  ca- 
nonical obedience,  that  they  have  to  reckon 
in  their  controversy ;  and,  moreover,  that  the 
authority  of  the  diocesan  bishop  in  such  cases, 
has  been  afifirmcd  by  the  assembly  of  a  hundred 
bi.shops  at  Lambeth  and  by  the  constitutional 
.synod  of  the  province.  A  few  other  unquiet  spirits, 
whose  tendencies  are  all  in  another  direction, 


ITS  CATHOLICITY. 


29 


may  still  long  for  strife.  There  are  fanatics  who 
desire  to  be  imprisoned  as  martyrs,  and  foolish 
opponents  of  those  persons,  who  would  seek 
to  gratify  their  thirst  for  an  easy  martyrdom. 
But  most  wise  men  will  prefer  to  trust  to  the 
slow,  it  may  be,  but  steady  working  out  of  the 
Church's  laws  in  its  own  way.  There  are 
those,  no  doubt,  who,  feeling  dissatisfied  with 
the  moderation  sure  to  characterise  the  de- 
cisions of  the  bishops,  and  tired  of  waiting 
till  the  law  takes  its  course,  may  agitate  for 
some  reversal  of  the  existing  law.  But  I  think 
I  am  not  too  sanguine  in  believing  that  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  Churchmen  are  tired 
and  ashamed  of  such  disputes,  and  are  thank- 
ful they  are  dying  out  ;  that  our  people  desire 
a  well-ordered,  hearty,  and  attractive  ritual, 
but  are  perfectly  staunch  in  their  dislike  of 
semi-Romish  innovations,  deeply  attached 
both  to  the  forms  and  doctrines  of  the  Church 
to  which  they  belong,  and  thankful  that  these 
are  being  quietly,  though  it  may  be  slowly,  en- 
forced.   Happy  indeed  will  it  be  for  the  bishops 


30        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i. 


of  the  present  generation,  if,  in  spite  of  the  in- 
numerable nrsrcpresentations  to  wliJch  they 
have  been  exposed,  they  shall  be  proved  to 
have  been  able,  through  the  exercise  of  a 
kindly  moderating  authority,  to  close  those 
disputes  which  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to 
rend  our  Church  asunder,  and  if  under  their 
guidance,  Churchmen  may  now  direct  their 
thoughts,  undistracted,  to  the  real  work  of 
their  Master,  in  edifying  the  souls  of  the 
faithful,  by  dwelling  on  the  central  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel,  in  converting  sinners,  and 
m  resisting  the  progress  of  viciousncss  and 
unbelieC 


II. 


ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST. 

{^Delivered  at  Tunbridge,  on  September  yd,  to  the 
Rural  Deaneries  of  North  Mailing,  South  Mailing, 
Tunbridge,  and  Shorekain.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren  and  my 
Brethren  the  Churchwardens, — In  my 
visitation  address  delivered  last  Tuesday  at 
Croydon,  I  endeavoured  to  set  forth  how  the 
Church  of  England  of  the  present  day  must 
be  world-wide  in  its  sympathies,  and  that 
it  has  peculiar  advantages,  involving  peculiar 
responsibilities,  in  reference  to  the  evils  which 
in  this  age  afflict  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
all  lands.  The  peculiar  errors,  both  in  doctrine 
and  in   practice,   with  which  the  Church  of 


32        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ii. 


Christ  has  to  contend  elsewhere,  are,  in  their 
degree  powerfully  at  work  amongst  ourselves. 
Therefore  it  cannot  be  right  for  an  English 
bishop,  still  less  for  one  holding  my  position, 
when  addressing  his  diocese  on  so  important 
an  occasion  as  a  visitation,  to  confine  his 
vision  to  petty  and  passing  disputes  of  a 
narrow  ecclesiasticism,  or  a  narrow  theology. 

I  think  we  are  bound  at  the  present  moment 
to  look  steadily  at  the  Church's  mission  in  its 
full  extensiveness.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  aspect  of  Christian  society  in  the 
present  day  is  somewhat  troubled ;  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  and  the  faith  of  Christ  are 
passing  through  a  great  trial  in  all  regions  of 
the  civilized  world,  and  not  least  among  our- 
selves. There  are  dark  clouds  on  the  horizon 
already  breaking,  which  may  speedily  burst 
into  a  violent  storm.  What  would  be  said  if, 
through  our  weakness,  we  should  give  to  those 
who  are  banded  together  to  resist  or  ignore 
Christianity,  the  encouragement  always  secured 
for  an  advancing  foe,  v/hen  those  who  have 


II.]  TTS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  33 


to  repel  the  onset  are  blind  to  the  greatness 
of  the  real  danger,  and  occupied  with  frivolous 
disputes  on  minor  matters  among  themselves. 
Many  questions,  both  important  and  unim- 
portant, about  which  Christian  men  may 
differ,  can  afford  to  wait  for  their  settlement 
till  formidable  dangers,  threatening  the  whole 
Church,  are  overpast. 

I  proceed,  therefore,  to  consider  some  of  the 
phases  of  that  conflict  for  which  the  Church 
universal  must  brace  itself  in  this  nineteenth 
century.  Let  us  be  thankful  if  we  can  feel 
ourselves  members  of  a  compact,  well- 
ordered  section  of  that  Church,  strengthened 
by  ennobling  traditions  of  its  past  history, 
holding  fast  by  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles, 
and  ready  to  adapt  itself,  in  its  maintenance 
of  truth  and  holiness,  to  the  ever-varying  cir- 
cumstances of  the  changing  ages.  Many 
e.xpcct  that,  as  the  world  grows  old,  and  the 
coming  of  the  Lord  draws  near,  there  will  be 
some  conflict  betwixt  truth  and  falsehood, 
greater  perhaps  than  has   ever  been  known 

D 


34 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[11. 


before.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain 
that  each  age  of  the  Church  must  expect  its 
own  great  difficulties.  History  tells  us  how 
error  has  assumed  its  own  peculiar  form  ia 
each  century.  I  can  have  little  doubt  what  is 
for  us  the  impending  controversy.  Superstition 
may  for  a  time  raise  its  head,  and  does  raise 
it  in  a  strange  and  unexpected  fashion  in  some 
of  the  countries  of  Europe,  attracting  numbers 
as  if  it  were  the  only  antidote  to  infidelity, 
instead  of  being,  as  I  believe  it  is,  the  hand- 
maid of  the  same  evil  influence.  Men  will 
never  be  cured  of  believing  too  little  by  un- 
scrupulous attempts  to  involve  them  in  believ- 
ing too  much.  Reason  will  never  be  effectually 
restrained  from  wandering  into  the  vague  and 
doubtful,  by  unauthorised  claims  to  settle  every 
controversy  by  authority,  and  to  forbid  the 
exercise  of  God's  great  gift  of  reason,  as  if  to 
think  for  ourselves,  and  .  follow  the  dictates  of 
conscience,  were  a  sin.  It  is  well  to  note  in 
history  how  these  two  evils,  superstition  and 
infidelity,  act  and  react  in  strengthening  each 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  35 

Other.  Still,  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  mor.t 
formidable  of  the  two  for  us  at  present  is 
infidelity. 

It  is  natural,  as  life  wanes,  that  we  should 
all  look  forward.  What,  then,  will  be  the  re- 
ligion, or  if  religion,  as  some  wildly  suppose, 
were  to  be  driven  from  our  land,  what  will  be 
the  philosophy  of  those  who  stand  in  our  place 
when  we  are  gone  To  judge  by  the  loud  and 
unscrupulous  talk  of  some,  you  might  think 
that  we  are  fast  being  prepared  for  acquies- 
cence in  a  materialistic  atheism.  I  have  no 
fear  that  this  scourge  will  desolate  our  land. 
It  is,  indeed,  a  frightful  thought  that  numbers 
of  our  intelligent  mechanics  seem  to  be  alien- 
ated from  all  reh'gious  ordinances,  that  there 
are  in  some  of  our  towns  secularist  halls  well 
filled,  that  there -is  an  active  propagandism  at 
work  for  shaking  belief  in  all  creeds.  Mar- 
vellous that  those  who  see  vividly,  in  their  own 
painful  experience,  how  unequally  good  things 
are  distributed  in  this  life,  and  how  much 
there  is  always  in   it  of  poverty  and  misery, 

D  2 


36        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [n 


nothwithstanding  all  attempts  to  regenerate 
society  by  specious  schemes  of  socialistic  re- 
organisation, should  be  willing  to  confine  their 
hopes  and  aspirations  to  a  life  which  is  so 
irresistibly  hastening  to  its  speedy  conclusion, 
and  which  leaves  so  little  time  for  any  one, 
even  the  most  favoured  of  human  beings,  to 
enjoy  that  share  of  good  things  which  this 
world  can  secure  for  him.  It  is  certain  also 
that,  from  above,  in  the  regions  of  literature 
and  of  art,  efforts  to  degrade  mankind,  by 
denying  our  high  destination,  and  extinguish- 
ing the  br'ghtest  of  our  hopes,  have  much 
encouragement. 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  our  time  that  in  every 
household  in  England,  which  cultivates  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  literature  of  the  day,  we  find 
lying  on  our  tables,  for  the  use  of  our  sons  and 
daughters,  magazines,  in  the  pages  of  which  the 
doctrines  both  of  natural  and  revealed  religion  are 
assailed.  Such  publications  are  placed  within 
our  reach  at  every  railway  station.  No  doubt  it  is 
urged  in  defence  of  these  publications  that  they 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  37 


are  open  to  both  sides — that  if  they  convey  the 
poison  they  also  convey  the  antidote,  and  that 
good  results  from  this  system  to  the  cause  of 
orthodoxy,  because  many  persons  who  might 
otherwise  never  read  any  literature  which  was 
not  of  a  sceptical  character,  will  find  within  the 
pages  of  such  books  sound  treatises  advocating 
old  truths,  and  will  thus  have  good  thoughts 
forced  on  their  attention.  But,  obviously,  there 
are  two  sides  to  this  argument,  and  it  may  be 
that  the  system  of  which  we  are  speaking  has  a 
tendency  to  lead  the  uninformed  to  regard  all 
questions  as  open,  and  truth  as  very  doubtful. 
It  cannot,  I  think,  but  be  allowed  that  this 
peculiarity  of  our  periodical  literature  is  a 
symptom  of  dangerous  influences  at  work,  even 
if  it  does  not  foster  them. 

What  shall  we  say,  then,  is  the  form  which 
this  evil  influence  most  commonly  assumes  ? 
Is  it  simply  sceptical,  throwing  doubt  on  all 
things }  Or  does  it,  under  a  specious  show 
of  having  proved  the  doubtfulness  of  things 
spiritual,    proceed    to    dogmatise  respecting 


38       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [n. 


things  material,  as  the  sole,  real,  and  valuable 
inheritance  of  man  ? 

First,  agnosticism.  What  is  it  ?  Its  name 
announces  that  it  knows  nothing.  Would  that 
its  professions  of  ignorance  were  accompanied 
by  their  logical  result  of  a  philosophical  hu- 
mility! An  agnostic,  I  take  it,  is  one  who 
says,  "I  know  nothing  of  things  spiritual  and 
metaphysical.  You  tell  me  that  there  is  a 
world  beyond  the  grave,  and  that  there  is 
something  within  me  which  is  destined  to  live 
in  that  world,  when  all  the  material  objects,  of 
whose  existence  alone  I  can  be  certain,  have 
crumbled  into  dust  ;  you  tell  me  old  stories  of 
men  believing  that  they  had  intercourse  in  time 
past  with  a  spiritual  being,  who  dwells  some- 
where above  the  clouds.  I  know  nothing  which 
is  capable  of  corroborating  such  fancies.  Why 
am  I  not  to  regard  them  as  the  dreams  of  a 
heated  imagination  .>  I  want  something  certain, 
and  I  find  this  certainty  only  in  the  physical 
phenomena  around  mc,  and  in  the  unchanging 
laws  of  outward  nature.    It  is  just  possible  that 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  39 


there  may  be  some  truth  in  your  vague  imagin- 
ings, but  I  cannot  ascertain  it,  and  therefore, 
for  all  practical  purposes,  I  shall  consider  them 
to  be  but  vain.  Life,  with  its  enjoyments  and 
pursuits,  as  I  see  and  feel  them,  is  full  of  in- 
terest ;  but  what  I  was  before  I  came  into  this 
world  concerns  me  little,  and  as  little  am  I  con- 
cerned respecting  anything  that  can  hereafter 
befall  the  particles  of  which  I  am  composed. 
You  say  there  is  a  Supreme  Intelligence,  ani- 
mated by  a  Father's  love,  which  regulates  all 
things.  I  see  no  proof  of  it.  The  laws  of 
nature  roll  on  with  iron  uniformity.  Whoever 
tries  to  act  against  them  is  crushed  by  their 
irresistible  advance."  I  do  not  say  that  the 
agnostic  argues  like  some  Epicureans — "  Let 
us  eat  and  drink  for  to-morrow  we  die"- — but, 
as  I  understand  him,  he  .speaks  thus—"  Let 
us  confine  our  thoughts  to  what  we  are  certain 
of  Let  us  conform  ourselves  to  the  irresistible 
course  of  this  all-pervading  machinery,  of  which 
we  find  ourselves  a  part.  Let  us  make  the 
most  of  our  present  material  existence.  We 


40       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ii. 


can  do  no  better  ;  and  attempts  to  act  as  if 
we  knew  more  than  we  do  will  only  make 
things  worse.  Priests  and  so-called  theo- 
logical philosophers,  all  the  world  over,  have 
only  been  misleading  us.  They  might,  perhaps, 
have  their  place  in  the  world's  childhood,  when 
men  were  incapable  of  a  training  in  the  rules 
and  operations  of  an  exact  and  positive  philo- 
sophy ;  but  the  world  has  come  to  its  man- 
hood now,  or  is  fast  approaching  it.  I  know," 
says  this  modern  philosopher,  "nothing  but 
what  I  can  observe  and  classify,  and  I  take 
no  interest  in  your  theologies  and  vain 
philosophies." 

The  better  feelings  of  man  contradict  these 
sophisms.  An  eminent  Protestant  pastor  told 
mc  lately,  in  Paris,  that,  being  called  to  conduct 
funeral  rites  in  most  of  the  cemeteries  of  that 
capital,  he  had  made  a  point  of  inquiring  of 
the  custodians  of  these  grounds  as  to  the  rela- 
tive number  of  religious  and  of  civil,  that  is, 
non-religious,  funerals,  and  that  he  was  assured 
that  the  civil  funerals  reached  a  scarcely  appre- 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  4 1 


ciable  per-centage.^  France  has  usually  been 
regarded  as  the  stronghold  of  an  atheistical 
philosophy.  Perhaps  the  claim  to  this  pre- 
eminence may  be  disputed  now  by  some  other 
continental  countries,  but  the  fact  of  which  I 
was  thus  assured  is  worth  dwelling  on.  It 
seems  to  show  one  of  two  things,  either  that 
theories  of  atheistic  scepticism,  though  they  may 
satisfy  some  minds  and  make  them  altogether 
indifferent  in  life,  are  rudely  shaken  when  the 
great  and  undeniable  fact  of  death  casts  its 
shadow  over  the  human  soul  :  that  lingering 
hopes  and  fears,  against  which  the  so-called 
philosopher  had  striven,  assert  themselves  irre- 
sistibly in  the  presence  of  this  great  emergency  ; 
or  this  at  least  it  proves,  that  in  every  family 
those  who  are  influenced  by  such  hopes  and 
fears,  though  they  may  be  but  the  frailer  of 
its  members,  assert  their  power  in  times  of 
mourning,  strong  in  the  promjatings  of  nature, 
and  determined  not  to  be  overborne  by  the 
pratings  of  a  cold-hearted  would-be-philosophic 
*  See  Appendix  B. 


'42       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [11. 


few.  I  think  we  may  take  some  encourage- 
ment from  the  report  thus  made,  that  this 
atheistical  scepticism  is  neither  so  widely  spread 
nor  so  powerful  as  some  fear. 

Secondly,  if  the  world  is  not  about  to  be- 
come agnostic,  certainly  there  is  little  fear  of 
its  falling  under  the  dominion  of  an  atheism 
which  is  dogmatic.  Practical  atheists  we  have 
everywhere,  if  atheism  be  the  virtual  denial 
of  God  in  conduct  though  not  in  words.  But 
surely  the  boasted  enlightenment  of  this  cen- 
tury will  never  tolerate  the  gross  ignorance, 
the  arrogant  self-conceit,  which  presumes  to 
dogmatise  as  to  things  confessedly  beyond  its 
ken,  and  boldly  asserts  because  it  cannot  see 
God  that  therefore  He  is  not.  A  coarse  ma- 
terialism which  tells  a  man,  because  he  is  not 
conscious  in  himself  of  any  stirring  of  spiritual 
life  within  him,  that  he  may  boldly  deny  the 
existence  of  all  spirit,  and  professes  to  know 
that  which  its  very  theory  proclaims  to  be 
unknowable,  will  surely  never  make  progress 
amongst    any  but  the    most    debased  and 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  43 


ignorant,  in  an  age  which  prides  itself  on  test- 
ing everything  by  experiment,  and  on  not 
stirring  one  step  beyond  the  calm  convictions 
which  an  inquiring  reason  sanctions. 

But,  if  we  do  not  fear  either  of  these  an- 
tagonists, this  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  call  to  mind  sound  arguments,  many  of 
them  very  old  and  very  commonplace,  but 
not  therefore  the  less  forcible,  whereby  we 
may  withstand  these  baneful  influences,  and 
thus  hope  to  avert  the  ruin  which  they 
may  bring  on  the  unwary.  Say  to  the 
objector — "  You  profess,  as  I  understand  you, 
to  believe  nothing  which  is  not  capable  of 
being  tested  by  the  ordinary  rules  which 
govern  experiment  in  things  material.  How 
then  do  you  know  that  you  yourself  exist } 
How  do  you  know  that  the  perceptions  of 
your  senses  are  not  mere  delusions,  and  that 
there  is  anything  without  you  answering  to 
what  your  mind  conceives  1  I  ask  you  further, 
Have  you  a  mind  ?  and  if  you  have  not,  what 
is  it  that  enables  you  to  think  and  reason, 


44       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ii. 


and  fear,  and  hope  ?  Are  these  conditions  of 
your  being  the  mere  results  of  yo\ir  material 
organism,  like  the  headache  which  springs 
from  indigestion,  or  the  high  sp'rits  engen- 
dered by  too  much  wine  ?  Are  you  some- 
thing better  than  a  vegetable  highly  cultivated, 
or  than  your  brothers  of  the  lower  animals  ? 
and  if  so,  what  is  it  that  differentiates  your 
superiority  ?  Why  do  things  without  you 
obey  your  will  ?  Have  you  a  will  ?  and,  if 
so,  what  is  it  ?  I  think  you  must  allow  that 
intellect  is  a  thing  almost  divine,  if  there  be 
anything  divine  ;  and  I  think  also  you  must 
allow  that  it  is  not  a  thing  to  be  propagated 
as  we  propagate  well-made  and  high-bred 
cattle.  Whence  came  Alexander  the  Great  ? 
whence  Charlemagne  ?  whence  the  First  Napo- 
leon ?  Was  it  through  mere  accident  or  spon- 
taneous generation  that  they  sprung  up  to 
alter  by  their  genius  and  overwhelming  will 
the  destinies  of  the  world  ?  Whence  came 
Homer,  Shakespeare,  Bacon  ?  Whence  came 
all  the  great  historians?    Whence  came  Plato 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  45 


and  all  the  bright  lights  of  divine  philosophy, 
of  oratory,  of  poetry  ?  Their  influence,  after 
all,  you  must  allow  to  be  quite  as  wide  and 
as  enduring  as  any  influences  which  are  the 
direct  product  of  those  positive  material 
sciences  which  you  worship.  Do  you  think 
that  all  these  great  minds — for  they  are  minds, 
and  their  work  was  not  the  mere  product  of 
a  highly  organized  material  frame — were  the 
outcome  of  some  system  of  material  gene- 
ration, which  your  so-called  science  can  sub- 
ject to  rule,  and  teach  men  how  to  produce 
by  growth  as  they  grow  vegetables  ?  Nay, 
will  you  venture  to  deny  that  in  the  lives 
and  teaching  of  all  the  great  men  who  have 
swayed  the  world,  including  the  leaders  in 
your  own  field  of  science,  there  has  been 
evidence  of  some  divine  intention  calling  them 
into  being,  preserving  them  amid  the  accidents 
and  difficulties  of  life  till  they  had  accom- 
plished the  purposes  for  which  that  Divine 
Intelligence  had  shaped  them  ?  To  sum  up  : 
We  challenge  these  rcasoners  to  look  at  facts. 


46       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [il. 

which  they  pride  themselves  on  taking  for 
their  guide,— the  fact  that  they  live  ;  the  fact 
that  they  trust  the  perceptions  of  their  senses  ; 
the  facts  of  the  world's  history  and  of  the  way 
in  which  mind,  and  not  body,  has  dominated 
it  ;  the  fact  that  no  knowledge  of  the  wisest 
among  us  can  even  approach  to  the  solution 
of  this  mystery  of  the  power  of  mind  ;  and 
we  call  on  them,  upon  their  own  principles, 
to  abandon  their  materialistic  theories,  and 
to  worship  an  Intelligence,  higher  than  their 
own,  which  pervades  all  things  and  regulates 
all  things,  and  has  stamped  upon  their  very 
nature  the  acceptance  of  certain  principles 
which  they  could  not  gain  for  themselves  and 
cannot  test  by  experience. 

Again,  on  the  hard  ground  of  strictest  logi- 
cal argumentation,  we  challenge  these  men 
to  give  any  intelligible  account  of  how  this 
bright  world  and  all  that  lives  in  it  came  into 
existence  without  the  action  of  a  great  first 
cause,  that  is,  God.  Do  you  say  it  was  evolved 
in  the  lapse  of  countless  ages  t    I  ask  you,  as 


11.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  47 


you  have  been  asked  a  hundred  times  before, 
evolved  from  what,  and  how?  If  human  life 
be  the  refined  product  of  a  thousand  evolu- 
tions from  the  original  protoplasm,  how  was 
the  protoplasm  endowed  with  this  power 
of  an  almost  endless  fecundity?  You  gain 
nothing  by  driving  your  hypothesis  back 
through  the  dark  mists  of  an  unknown  an  - 
tiquity — at  last  you  must  come  to  something 
which  could  not  generate  itself  and  endow 
itself  with  marvellous  powers.  You  may 
mount  your  world  upon  an  elephant,  and  your 
elephant  upon  a  tortoise,  and  invent  as  many 
inferior  animals  as  you  please  for  the  tortoise 
to  ride  upon  ;  but  at  last  you  must  come  to 
something  wh'ch  has  in  itself  the  power  of 
supporting  itself,  and  that  something  must  be 
God.  No  one  has  ever  yet  been  able  to  refute 
the  old  argument  necessitating  a  great  First 
Cause.  And,  if  there  hz  such  a  Cause,  it  is  the 
Author  of  our  being,  and  it  must  be  by  the 
will  of  this  Cause  tliat  through  whatever  length 
of  time,  and    amidst  whatever   changes,  the 


48       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [n. 


world  and  all  that  it  inhabit  and  the  whole 
material  universe  have  sprung  into  being.  If 
there  be  such  a  Cause  is  it  possible  to  divest 
yoiirself  of  the  conviction  that  this  First  Cause 
is  something  not  akin  to  the  mere  material 
frame,  whose  development  has  sprung  from  a 
power  imparted  by  this  Cause  ?  You  may  ob- 
ject to  the  phrase,  as  too  figurative,  that  "God 
breathed  into  man's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life 
and  he  became  a  living  soul ;  "  but  you  cannot, 
I  think,  on  your  own  principles,  escape  from 
the  inference,  logically  deduced,  that  in  some 
one  or  other  of  its  forms,  however  long  ago, 
this  whole  material  system,  in  whatever  primi- 
tive and  undeveloped  form  it  then  existed,  was, 
if  we  may  not  say  breathed  upon,  at  least  in- 
fluenced and  directed  and  endowed  with  new 
powers  by  an  eternal  and  self-existing  mind. 
And  if  such  a  mind  was  in  existence  at  the 
first,  do  you  suppose  it  died  or  fell  asleep  when 
it  had  fashioned  and  wound  up  the  material 
machine  ?  A  self-existing  and  eternal  mind  ; 
how  can  it  know  death,  or  anything  akin  to 


n.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  49 


death  ?  The  Lord  from  whom  creation  springs 
at  first  must  be  its  Lord  ever.  He  may, 
or  may  not,  put  forth  His  powers  in  the 
direct  regulation  of  its  processes,  but  these 
powers,  almighty  and  omnipresent,  if  eternal, 
must  exist  for  ever  ;  and  God,  being  the 
Creator  of  the  universe  once,  must,  if  there 
is  any  meaning  in  the  terms  by  which  we 
strive  to  express  His  existence,  be  ever  Lord 
of  it.  Moreover,  if,  in  all  sincerity,  the  man 
of  science,  who  is  guided  by  real  facts, 
must  allow  that  in  man  there  is  a  mind  as 
well  as  a  body,  this  mind,  at  however  vast  a 
distance  it  may  be  placed  from  its  original, 
and  however  faint  its  resemblance,  must  have 
something  within  it  akin  to  that  mind  by  which 
it  wa-s  generated.  It  must  be  more  like  the 
Eternal  Mind  than  the  body  is,  for  it  has 
this  in  common  with  the  Eternal  Mind,  that 
it  thinks  and  wills.  May  I  not  believe  that  you 
will  grant  so  much  as  this.'  Will  your  experi- 
mental philosophers  refuse  to  take  cognisance 
of  what  the  strictest  observation  shows  to  be 

E 


50       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ii. 


the  almost  universal  characteristics  of  the 
human  mind — its  hopes,  its  fears,  its  bright 
imaginings,  its  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  feeble 
at  first,  but  proved  by  experience  to  be  capable 
of  development,  and  therefore  existing  in  its 
rudimentary  state  even  where  inactive  ?  Man 
has  something  within  him  which  speaks  of  God, 
of  something  above  this  fleeting  world  ;  and 
rules  of  right  and  wrong  have  their  foundation 
elsewhere  than  in  man's  opinion.  Do  not  tell 
me  that  in  the  savage  these  powers  are  scarcely 
perceptible — no  more  perceptible  is  his  power 
of  understanding  the  propositions  of  Euclid  ; 
yet  he  must  have  by  nature  some  power  of 
understanding  them,  however  latent  and  unde- 
veloped. Had  he  not  such  a  power  within  him, 
not  all  your  education  could  ever  make  him  un- 
derstand them.  The  savage  has  an  intellect,  even 
when  it  is  least  instructed,  and  he  has  a  con- 
science, too,  even  when  it  knows  least  of  God 
and  of  right  and  wrong.  Let  the  experimental 
philosopher,  then,  look  to  the  nature  of  man, 
not  the  undeveloped  nature  of  the  child  or  the 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  51 


savage,  but  that  matured  nature  which  Bishop 
Butler  considers  the  model  of  the  real  man,  and 
therefore  the  specimen  of  what  he  is  in  truth. 
Let  him  observe  the  facts  of  human  nature  and 
listen  to  its  utterances,  and  he  will  find  all  things 
proclaiming  that  there  is  some  immutable  eternal 
distinction  between  right  and  wrong ;  that  there 
is  a  God  who  is  on  the  side  of  right,  that  man  is 
not  a  mere  material  body,  but  is  animated  by  a 
spirit  within  ;  that  this  spirit  has  in  it  longings 
and  capacities  which  cannot  be  satisfied  in  the 
brief  space  of  seventy  years — that  he  is  made 
for  immortality,  and  is  assured  that  he  is  im- 
mortal. Are  these  very  old  arguments  ?  Well, 
they  are  the  answers  to  very  old  errors,  and  old 
errors  do  not  become  new  by  being  expressed 
here  and  there  in  new  language,  and  by  the  array 
of  any  number  of  new  facts,  on  the  misinterpre- 
tation of  which  they  strive  to  ground  their  claims 
to  be  believed  as  truths.  I  take  it  that  the 
old  writers,  heathen,  Jewish,  and  Christian,  have, 
in  truth,  exhausted  the  arguments  on  this  very 
old  subject,  and  that  they  are  not  wrong  in 


52       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [n. 


their  conclusion  that  it  is  not  the  wise  man 
or  the  true  philosopher  and  man  of  science, 
but  his  reverse,  who  says  in  his  heart  "There 
is  no  God."    Great  is  truth,  and  will  prevail. 

I  do  not  fear,  then,  that  either  an  atheistical 
agnosticism,  or  still  less  a  dogmatic  atheism,  is 
the  philosophy  of  the  future,  destined  to  establish 
itself,  as  it  wildly  hopes,  on  the  ruins  of  the  Church 
of  Christ.  The  only  fear  I  have  is  that  be&are 
such  systt^ms  are  smitten  by  the  sword  of  sound 
argument,  and  ignominiously  driven  forth  by  the 
revolt  against  them  of  all  man's  higher  feelings, 
they  may  do  much  harm  to  unstable  souls.  How 
shall  we  prevent  this  1  Sound  arguments  must 
be  at  hand  and  easily  found  by  those  who  have 
the  skill  to  use  them.  But  there  is  always  some 
attraction  in  daring  speculations  which  treat 
contemptuously  time-honoured  convictions,  and 
try  every  art  to  invest  themselves  with  an  a'r 
of  ingenuity  and  novelty.  The  best  safeguard 
will  be  found  in  the  development  of  the  soul's 
h-ghest  and  most  God-like  instincts  ;  and,  thank 
God,  we  Christians  believe  that  in  an  attempt 


II.]  ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  53 


to  cherish  and  train  these  we  have  the  aid  of  a 
power  which  is  Divine.  This  power  will  helj? 
Christ's  servants  in  their  endeavour  to  fan  tlie 
Divine  spark  which  is  to  be  found  in  every 
human  soul,  and  to  kindle  from  it  a  light  which 
will  preserve  the  soul  from  walking  in  darkness 
and  guide  it  in  the  search  after  truth  and 
holiness. 

My  brethren  of  the  clergy,  you  will  be 
watchful  for  your  people  in  this  matter,  especi- 
ally for  the  young  of  your  flocks,  for  poison  is 
widely  disseminated  among  them,  and  must  be 
met  by  an  antidote.  My  brethren  of  the  laity, 
you  will  be  on  your  guard  also,  both  for  your- 
selves and  for  the  younger  and  more  easily 
impressible  members  of  your  families.  This 
Church  of  ours  in  this  age  has  great  responsi- 
bilities, and  needs  much  wisdom  and  discretion, 
in  respect  both  of  the  intellectual  speculation, 
and  the  moral  conduct  of  the  coming  age.  Do 
not  suppose  that  in  setting  forth  the  trite  argu- 
ments, by  which  from  old  times  a  materialistic 
atheism    has    been'  discredited,  I    intend  to 


54        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ii, 

suggest  to  you  that  you  should  have  these 
arguments  ever  on  your  hps  ;  stiU  less  would  I 
advise  the  clergy  to  introduce  them  into  ordinary 
sermons.  Beware  lest,  in  a  mistaken  zeal  to 
resist  materialism,  you  give  your  opponents 
occasion  to  scoff  at  your  injudicious  treatment 
of  subjects  which  are  very  intricate,  and  which 
require  much  knowledge  before  we  can  handle 
them  in  detail.  If  it  be  true  that  such  per- 
nicious error  as  we  have  been  speaking  of  finds 
its  way  into  our  homes,  and  reaches  the  rawest 
and  least  well-informed  of  our  people  through 
much  of  the  current  literature  of  the  day,  it  is 
well  to  proclaim  that  we  are  not  ashamed  to 
rest  our  belief  in  God  and  a  life  spiritual 
and  immortal  on  the  intellectual  basis  of  the 
old  arguments  by  which  great  heroes  of  the 
human  race  smote  down  similar  sophistical 
reasonings  in  the  old  times.  But,  practically, 
little  is  gained  for  the  good  of  souls  in  such 
cases  by  argument,  except  that  it  is  well  to 
have  the  feeling  of  security  \\\v.c\\  the  know- 
ledge of  such  arguments  in  reserve  confers.  If 


II.]  ITS  COXFLICT  WITH  THE  ATHEIST.  55 


we  would  have  those  whom  we  can  influence 
free  from  this  wasting  taint,  let  us  teach  them 
practically  to  live  as  in  the  presence  of  God, 
to  hold  intercourse  with  Mim,  and  love  the 
thought  of  Him  as  an  ever-present  and  affec- 
tionate Father.  Teach  them  practically  to 
listen  to  conscience  as  His  voice,  and  to  look 
forward  as  solace,  in  the  midst  of  life's  cares 
and  sorrows,  to  the  prospect  of  being  admitted 
at  last  into  His  immediate  and  felt  presence. 
The  true  cure  for  po'sonous  error  is  to  be 
found,  not  in  speculations,  but  in  that  practical 
grasp  of  truth  which  unites  the  soul  to  God 
and  the  spiritual  world  through  the  daily  grow- 
ing purification  and  elevation  of  the  life  and 
character.  All  experience  shows  also  that  in 
no  way  can  this  progressive  purification  and 
elevation  be  so  effectually  secured  as  by  setting 
forth  the  adorablcness  of  the  Everlasting  Father 
through  His  reflected  image  in  the  Incarnate 
Son,  and  through  all  the  wonderful  channels 
in  which  the  human  soul  has  its  love  for  God 
drawn  forth  by  feeling  how  the  Son  of  God 


56       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [il. 


in  His  life  and  death,  meets  all  its  needs. 
There  is  nothing  illogical  in  introducing  dis- 
tinctly Christian  arguments  in  refutation  of 
a  system  which  appears  so  entirely  incapable 
of  being  influenced  by  a  reverent .  Christianity 
tliat  it  rejects  the  basis  of  all  natural  religion. 
Mark  the  way  in  which  Christ  manifested  in 
the  Gospels  does  take  possession  of  the  heart, 
and  draw  it  so  powerfully  to  the  Everlasting 
Father,  that,  before  the  brightness  of  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness,  the  mists  which  rise  from 
a  gross  materialistic  atheism  break  up  and 
are  scattered  like  the  clouds  of  night  before 
the  dawn. 


III. 


ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST. 

{Delivered  at  Dover,  on  September  Tth,  to  the 
Rural  Deaneries  of  Dover,  Elham,  East  Bridge,  and 
Sandwich.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren,  and  my 
Brethren  the  Churchwardens, — Those 
of  you  who  have  read  the  addresses  I 
deh'vered  at  Croydon  and  at  Tunbridge  will 
know  that  I  propose  to  myself,  during  this 
Visitation,  to  dwell  more  on  matters  which 
concern  the  Church  generally  than  on  ques- 
tions peculiar  to  ourselves.  Since  I  met 
the  diocese  at  Tunbridge  last  Friday,  however, 
one  matter  of  very  great  interest  among  our- 
selves has  been  settled  by  the  Legislature — I 


58       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [u 


mean  the  Burials  Bill— and  I  think  it  well  to 
prefix  to  this  address  a  few  words  on  that 
subject.  You  all  know  the  part  I  have  for 
several  years  taken  in  the  controversy  which 
the  Burials  Bill  has  raised.  I  have  been 
anxious  that  its  inevitable  settlement  should 
be  so  arranged  as  to  relieve  the  clergy,  as 
much  as  possible,  from  the  hardship  against 
which  four  thousand  of  them  protested  in  the 
time  of  Archbishop  Longley,  arising  from  the 
obligation,  often  felt  to  be  intolerable,  of  bury- 
ing without  distinction' all  persons  not  excluded 
by  the  strict  letter  of  the  Rubrics,  though  they 
might  be  known  to  have  died  in  the  actual 
commission  of  scandalous  offences.  No  doubt 
the  danger  of  a  clergyman  being  exposed  to 
prosecution,  on  his  refusal  to  use  the  whole 
burial  service  in  such  cases,  had  been  exagger- 
ated ;  but  still  some  relief  was  wanted.  We 
have  been  fortunate  in  having  this  burial 
question  made  the  subject  of  legislation  under 
the  auspices  of  a  Lord  Chancellor  of  whom  no 
one  doubts  that  he  has  given  the  strongest 


111.]    ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  59 


possible  pledges  of  his  devout  attachment  to 
the  Established  Church.  And  both  he,  and 
I  am  bound  to  add,  from  what  I  personally 
know  for  certain,  the  majority  of  the  Hou.^e  of 
Commons,  have  felt  that  it  would  be  unfair  to 
concede  a  settlement  of  the  grievance  alleged 
by  Nonconformists,  without  a  corresponding 
concession,  so  far  as  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  render  it  possible,  to  what  was  allowed  to 
be  the  reasonable  grievance  of  the  clergy.  This, 
then,  has  been  one  of  my  main  endeavours  in 
this  controversy — to  preserve  the  substance, 
even  if  we  were  unable  to  maintain  the  actual 
words,  of  that  arrangement  by  which  the  Con- 
vocation of  the  Province  of  Canterbury  pro- 
posed to  meet  this  grievance  of  the  clergy.  In 
this  we  have  been  successful.  Moreover,  with 
the  concurrence  of  a  large  majority  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  we  have  maintained  that 
no  services  shall  be  introduced  into  our  church- 
yards which  are  not  Christian.  I  cannot  believe 
that  there  are  any  among  us  who  do  not  realize 
the  importance  of  this  distinction.     I  cannot 


6o 


CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iii. 


think  that  there  is  any  man,  holding  the  faith 
of  the  Church  of  England,  who  does  not  fee^ 
that  there  is  an  infinite  difference  between  those 
who  profess  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ' 
and  those  who  repudiate  Him.  I  should  be 
astonished  if  there  were  any  who  really  held 
that,  provided  a  man  is  a  Nonconformist  or  a 
Roman  Catholic,  he  might,  on  account  of  his 
separation  from  our  own  Church,  almost  as 
well  be  an  atheist  or  a  Mohammedan.  There- 
fore I  greatly  prize  the  retention  of  the  clause 
which  provides  that  all  services  in  our  church- 
yards shall  be  Christian  as  well  as  orderly.  I 
am  glad,  also,  that  the  rights  of  the  clergy  are 
maintained  in  the  general  care  and  superintend- 
ence of  their  churchyards.  I  am  glad  also  that, 
if  they  can  state  plain  reasons  for  objecting, 
they  may  refuse  to  allow  funerals  on  Sunday, 
and  certain  other  holy  days.  Having  once 
made  up  my  mind  to  concede  the  liberty  of  in- 
terring Nonconformists,  who  desired  to  be  buried 
near  the  graves  of  their  more  orthodox  fathers, 
in  places  which  I  was  glad  to  find  that  they 


Ill]     ITS  COXFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.     6 1 


professed  to  regard  as  sacred  on  account  of 
family  or  other  tender  associations,  I  could  not 
give  a  conscientious  support  to  the  introduction 
of  clauses  into  this  Bill  which  would,  in  my 
judgment,  and  that  of  the  Government  and  the 
majority  of  the  Legislature,  have  been  fatal  to 
its  principle.  And  if  in  this  particular  I  have 
differed  from  several  of  my  brethren  on  the 
bench,  and  from  a  large  body  of  the  clergy,  I 
feel  sure  that  none  of  you  would  have  wished 
me  to  act  against  my  conscientious  convictions. 
It  is  a  satisfaction  to  me  to  know  that  many  of 
the  most  respected  of  the  clergy,  in  this  diocese 
and  clsev/here,  entirely  agree  with  me  in  the 
general  course  I  have  taken  upon  this  whole 
subject.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  aware  that, 
not  unnaturally,  the  change  which  this  Act  will 
introduce  is  very  distasteful  to  many  of  you 
I  cannot  but  think  that  some  of  the  clergy  have 
exaggerated  to  themselves  the  greatness  of  the 
contemplated  change,  and  I  can  understand 
their  dissatisfaction.  But  I  can  scarcely  doubt 
that,  as  a  body,  they  will,  on  reflection,  allow  that 


62 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[III. 


a  measure  directly  supported  by  at  least  one- 
half  of  the  episcopal  bench  as  necessary  and 
right  under  the  circumstances  in  which  we  find 
ourselves,  and  acquiesced  in,  however  unwill- 
ingly, by  the  great  majority  of  the  bishops,  as 
inevitable,  cannot  be  so  unwise  and  bad  as 
some  excited  spirits  have  represented  it.  My 
own  hope  is  that  it  will  serve  to  strengthen  the 
Church  by  removing  a  most  painful  cause  of 
controversy,  uniting  with  us  more  closely  in 
death  those  whom  unfortunate  circumstances 
have  alienated  in  their  lifetime  from  the  benefi- 
cent ministration  of  the  Church  of  their  fathers. 

Let  me,  in  leaving  this  subject,  commend  to 
the  careful  attention  of  all  who  have  been  un- 
duly excited  by  this  controversy,  the  touching 
words  in  which  ,the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  closed 
the  debate  in  the  House  of  Lords  last  Friday. 
No  one  could  be  more  conscientiously  opposed 
to  this  measure,  from  first  to  last,  than  that 
man  of  deep  learning  and  holy  life.  Let  all, 
therefore,  who  value  his  counsels  ponder  well 
the   weighty  words   which    he  addressed  to 


in.]    ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  63 


them  on  the  practical  duties  which  he  before 
them.  I  have  thought  his  objections  to  this 
measure  exaggerated,  but  I  do  not  fail  to 
acknowledge  how  formidable  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  the  settlement  of  this  question  has  been 
presented  by  his  conscientious  convictions,  and 
how  important,  therefore,  it  is  that  he  has  given 
to  those  who  may  be  expected  to  be  influenced 
by  his  decisions,  advice  so  wise  and  truly  Chris- 
tian. I  would  only  add  to  what  he  has  said  a 
few  words  of  advice  to  those  for  whose  sake 
chiefly  this  Bill  has  been  passed  into  a  law.  I 
am  aware  that  violent  agitators  among  them 
are  altogether  dissatisfied  with  it,  on  account  of 
its  Christian  character,  and  the  measure  of  con- 
sideration which  it  has  given  to  the  rights  and 
feelings  of  the  clergy.  To  these  men  it  is 
useless  for  me  to  appeal.  I  have  never  doubted 
that  they  have  further  objects  behind.  Many 
desire  the  utter  subversion  of  our  Established 
Church,  and  are  ready,  for  this  object,  to  unite 
with  the  foes  of  all  religion.  Such  assaults, 
I  need  not  say,  we  are  determined  to  with- 


64       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[HI. 


stand.  But  may  I  not  siy  to  the  great  body 
of  religious  Nonconformists  in  tliis  country,  that 
we  look  confidently  to  them,  to  their  good 
principle,  and  good  faith,  and  kindly  Christian 
feeling,  to  falsify  the  dismal  vaticinations  which 
have  been  uttered  in  some  quarters,  and  to 
show  that,  over  the  grave  at  least,  they  desire 
that  the  controversies  which  keep  us  asunder 
should  be  hushed,  and  that  nothing  should  be 
heard  in  the  ground  in  which  we  lay  our  dead, 
in  sure  and  certain  hope  of  a  resurrection,  but 
words  of  peaceful  hope  and  comfort,  which 
will  approve  tliemselves  to  Him  who  is  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life  ? 

And  now  I  leave  questions  respecting  our 
own  Church's  privileges,  and  the  differences 
of  opinion  among  ourselves.  Now,  as  at 
Tunbridge  last  Friday,  I  desire  to  draw  your 
attention  to  some  phases  of  that  conflict  which 
has  certainly  begun,  both  in  our  own  and  other 
lands,  between  the  Church  and  Faith  of  Christ 
on  one  side,  and  those  who  deny  His  power. 
I   proceed   to  ask,  what  will,  in  all  human 


111.]    ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  65 


probability,  be  in  England  the  fate  or  condi- 
tion of  the  Church  and  belief  of  the  future  ? 
We  are  threatened  by  some,  as  I  have  already 
said,  with  the  overthrow  of  all  Churches,  and 
the  substitution  for  them  of  a  philosophy. 
The  Church  must  always  be  greatly  affected 
by  the  prevailing  philosophy,  as  both  the 
schools  of  the  prophets  and  the  schools  of 
the  philosophers  profess  to  have  in  the  main 
the  same  object — namely,  to  lead  men  to  the 
truth.  I  stated  at  Tunbridge  my  reasons  for 
believing  that  neither  we  nor  our  sons  will 
see  the  triumph  of  an  atheistical  philosophy  ; 
but  are  we  so  sure  that  we  shall  not  be  handed 
over  to  a  cold  Deism .''  England  had  some 
difficulty  in  making  its  escape  from  such  a 
system  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Thanks 
principally  to  Bishop  Butler,  and  to  the  other 
lights  which  reflected  hie  teaching,  though  in 
varying  forms ;  thanks  to  Paley,  to  Douglas, 
and  to  Watson,  all  four  of  them  ministers  of 
our  English  Church,  we  escaped  this  evil. 
Thanks   also   to   Lardner,    however  doubtful 

F 


66       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  ill. 


might  be  the  form  of  dogmatic  Christianity 
to  which  he  adhered,  when  Deism  was  smitten 
by  his  great  work,  and  thanks  to  the  returning 
good  sense  of  the  EngHsh  nation,  revolting, 
towards  the  end  of  the  century,  from  the  im- 
piety and  wild  schemes  of  the  great  French 
Revolution,  we  were  saved.  Thanks,  p^erhaps, 
most  of  all,  to  that  revival  of  deep  religious 
feeling  which  Wesley  and  Whitfield  stirred  in 
our  Church  before  they  or  their  followers  left 
it,  and  to  that  school  distinctly  within  our  own 
body  with  which  to  the  end  they  maintained 
friendly  relations — Fletcher  of  Madeley  and 
Romaine,  and  the  others  who  set  before  their  ^ 
fellow  Churchmen  the  example  of  a  deepened 
spiritual  life.  Thanks,  also,  earlier,  to  such 
men  as  Robert  Nelson,  who  had,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century,  received 
and  handed  down  from  the  seventeenth  the 
teaching  of  Bishop  Andrewes.  Thanks,  also, 
to  other  men  little  known,  who,  following  the 
same  guidance,  gave  here  and  there  through 
the  century  the  same  teaching  to  their  fellow 


III.]    ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  6/ 


Churchmen.  Who  that  understands  the  words 
he  uses  can  charge  the  theology  of  Bishop 
Andrewes  with  being  unspiritual  1  Thanks,  I 
say,  then,  to  all  these  lights,  some  of  them 
shining  brightly  in  conspicuous  places,  some 
bearing  their  torch  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  and  some  burning  very 
feebly,  scarce  observed  in  solitary  places, — 
thanks  to  the  united  efforts  of  them  all,  and 
to  God's  overruling  providence,  the  cold  system 
which  seemed  at  one  time  likely  to  freeze  all 
vital  warmth  out  of  our  nation's  creed,  was 
thoroughly  discredited  by  sound  argument  and 
deep  feeling,  and  our  countrymen  as  a  body 
resolved,  that,  whatever  their  form  of  Chris- 
tianity might  be,  they  would  not  be  satisfied 
with  becoming  mere  Deists. 

And  so  it  appears  we  are  not  to  speak 
of  the  revival  of  "  Deism "  now,  for  the 
name  has  become  discredited,  and  our  new 
philosophers  are  not  "  Deists  "  but  "  Theists.'> 
What  the  distinction  is  I  leave  them  to 
explain.     The  old  giant  who  frightened,  not 

F  2 


68       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ill. 


without  cause,  our  fathers  of  the  last  century- 
was  certainly  smitten  by  the  Davids  of  that 
time  with  their  sling  stones,  and  they  were 
able  even  to  cut  off  his  head  as  he  lay 
prostrate  ;  and  now  the  successor  of  the  old 
evil  comes  out  in  a  new  guise  and  with  a 
new  name.  Yet  I  do  not  know  that  the 
system  is  so  new  as  it  would  represent  itself. 
Indeed,  it  is  only  an  old  foe  revived.  We 
need  no  new  arguments  to  meet  old  errors. 
Till  the  old  tried  arguments  are  refuted,  which 
they  never  have  been,  they  are  enough,  and 
we  are  right  to  fall  b.ick  on  them.  It  is 
maintained  indeed  by  the  Theist  that  he  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  Deist  of  the  last 
century,  for  this  reason,  that  he  grounds  his 
system  not  on  the  mere  conclusions  of  pure 
intellect,  but  also  on  the  suggest'ons  of  the 
conscience  and  the  heart,  and  he  cont.-nds  that 
he  is  thus  distinguished  from  most  of  the  old 
Deists  by  a  far  deeper  religious  sentiment. 
Stdl,  after  full  allowance  has  been  made  for 
A\hat   is   thus   urged,  the   fact   remains  that 


III.]    ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  69 


modern  Theism,  like  the  old  Deism,  is  a  setting 
up  of  what  used  to  be  called  natural  religion 
in  the  place  of  revealed.  It  teaches  that  all 
man  wants  of  religious  knowledge,  all,  indeed, 
that  is  really  true,  may  be  known  by  the  un- 
aided human  reason,  taking  that  word  in  its 
widest  sense,  and  ought,  through  reason,  to  be 
elicited,  as  their  essence,  from  the  forms  in 
which  it  has  been  presented,  distorted,  and 
caricatured  by  the  superstitions  which  have 
sprung  from  man's  imagination  excited  by  his 
fears. 

Now,  it  is  a  long  time  since  Lessing,  in 
Nathan  dcr  Weise,  set  forth  the  picture  of 
a  father  who  had  a  valuable  ring,  of  which 
he  wished  the  worthiest  of  his  three  sons  to 
be  the  inheritor  ;  but  as  th2  three  sons  could 
not  all  have  the  precious  ring,  and  he  hesitated 
himself  to  decide  among  them.,  he  determined 
to  conceal  which  was  the  true  or'ginal,  and  had 
two  counterfeits  made,  slightly  different,  it 
might  be,  but  still  very  like  the  true.  These 
three  rings  he  bequeathed  to  his  three  sons, 


/O  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  m.] 


the  Jew,  the  Christian,  and  the  Mohammedan, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  any  of  the  three  to 
prove  that  his  own  was  the  genuine  ring.  We 
may  extend  Less"ng's  fable  to  suit  modern 
views.  Perhaps  our  modern  philosophers  would 
enlarge  the  family  circle  to  whom  these  jewels 
were  bequeathed,  by  admitting  into  it  the 
Buddhist,  and  the  Hindoo,  and  the  red  Indian 
who  speaks  of  a  great  Spirit  and  immortal 
hunting  grounds,  and  even  the  degraded  savage 
of  Africa,  or  so-called  aboriginal  tribes  of  other 
continent-;,  who  have  little  religion  beyond 
their  terror  for  their  Medicine-Man,  and  perhaps 
some  dim  worsh'p  of  their  ancestors,  tempered 
by  a  dread  of  evil  spirits.  Some  of  these 
must,  of  course,  be  allowed  to  have  as  their 
talisman  very  degraded  copies  indeed  of  the 
original  Divine  jewel  ;  but  our  phiLsopher 
requires  each  of  them  to  bear  his  part  in  that 
natural  history  of  religions,  which  throws  the 
creed  of  all  into  the  cauldron,  and  by  the 
alchemy  of  an  enl'ghtcncd  reason  hopes  to 
bring   out   from   their   fus'on   some  likeness, 


in.]    irS  CONFLICT  IV/TH  THE  DEIST.  71 


more  or  less  perfect,  of  that  archetype  which 
they  all  resemble,  though  in  very  d  fferent 
degrees. 

Now  it  must  not  be  taken  for  granted  with- 
out proof  that  all  the  religions  of  the  earth 
have  so  much  in  common  that  they  can 
thus  be  classified  together.  For  example,  with 
respect  to  Buddhism,  about  which  we  hear  so 
much  nowadays,  ought  it  not,  in  any  sound 
logical  classification,  to  stand  apart  by  itself.^ 
Is  it  true  that  the  highest  aspiration  to  wh'ch 
it  would  raise  the  soul,  is  that  of  annihilation, 
or  absorption  into  the  animating  principle  of 
the  universe.'  Is  it  true  that  there  are  grave 
doubts  whether  it  believes  in  any  personal 
God,  and  that  it  represents  to  its  ordinary 
followers  as  the  legitimate  object  of  worship, 
not  any  God,  but  an  almost  infinite  succession 
of  godlike  men  f  The  claim  which  it  makes 
to  our  attention  is  rather  due  to  the  supposed 
purity  of  its  precepts,  than  to  its  teachings 
about  the  Divine  Being.  Judaism,  Christianity, 
and     Mohammedanism    have     creeds  which 


72       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ui. 


distinctly  teach  the  existence  of  One  Personal 
God  :  they  can  well,  therefore,  be  compared 
together.  Even  the  old .  Greek  and  Roman 
Paganism,  with  all  its  multiplicity  of  deities, 
had  some  vague  apprehension  of  the  nature 
of  the  one  Supreme  Being,  the  basis  and 
originator  of  all  things.  The  far-off  Oriental 
religions  require  to  be  studied  more  accurately 
than  they  seem  yet  to  have  been  studied  before 
any  philosophy  can  enucleate  the  teaching  of 
their  complicated  systems,  respecting  the  belief 
in  the  existence  of  one  all-powerful  God,  and 
a  real  life  of  the  human  soul  after  death. 

But,  after  all,  it  is  not  our  business  to  follow 
the  steps  of  our  thcistical  philosophers,  through 
the  labyrinth  by  which  they  would  prove  that 
the  rudiments  of  the  system  they  finally  put 
up  for  our  worship  are  to  be  found  from  an 
examination  of  all  the  religions  of  the  earth. 
It  will  be  more  to  our  purpose  to  look  care- 
fully to  the  result  of  their  speculations,  rather 
than  to  the  steps  by  which  they  have  arrived 
at  it.     It  is  our  business  to  test  how  far  it 


III.]     ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  7 HE  DEIST  73 


meets  man's  wants,  and  will  hold  him  up  in  the 
day  of  trouble.  A  God  who  hides  Himself 
except  so  far  as  He  may  be  known  through 
the  efforts  of  the  pure  intellect,  or  in  the  voices 
of  the  longing  heart  ;  a  life  on  earth  in  which  He 
scarcely  can  be  held  to  interfere,  as  all  things 
move  on  irresistibly  by  the  laws  He  has  estab- 
lished ;  a  life  of  the  spirit  hereafter,  if  there 
be  such  life,  not  assured  by  any  direct  mani- 
festations from  above,  but  dimly  conjectured 
as  a  probable  expectation — this,  I  think,  is 
the  residuum  supposed  to  represent  the  sacred 
substance  which  all  the  confused  earthly  copies 
have  been  caricaturing.  The  question  is  whether 
this  theism  is  likely  to  prevail  as  the  philosophy 
or  religion  of  the  coming  age.  In  order  to 
answer  this  question  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
how  far  the  system  will  stand  the  test  of  a 
sound  logic.  Of  course,  we  cannot  here  run 
through  the  lengthened  series  of  those  evidences 
by  which  revealed  religion  has  been  cohfirmcd, 
in  opposition  to  the  Deism  of  the  last  ccntur\'. 
Not  a  charge,  but  a  library,  would  be  required 


74       I^HE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iii. 


to  develop  these  arguments.  Let  me  very 
briefly  recapitulate  a  few  which  I  think  it  will 
be  hard  for  our  antagonist  to  dispose  of 

First,  an  a  priori  argument.  If  there  is  a 
God,  which  the  theist  allows,  is  it  not  naturally 
to  be  expected  that  He  will  make  himself 
felt  If  He  be  a  God  of  love  and  of  truth,  can 
we  suppose  that,  being  all-powerful,  He  will 
allow  His  creatures  to  drift  far  away  from  truth 
and  holiness,  and  to  establish  among  themselves 
a  state  of  internecine  hatred  and  warfaie  where 
there  m'ght  be  love  and  peace,  and  allow  such 
a  state  of  things  to  spread  over  the  whole 
earth  without  putting  forth  one  effort  to  make 
Himself  known  ?  The  experience  of  the  history 
of  religions  shows  that  the  unaided  human 
reason,  and  the  best  natural  feelings  of  the 
human  soul,  cannot  of  themselves  master  and 
secure  and  uphold  pure  -  conceptions  of  the 
Godhead,  and  of  man's  relations  to  Him.  Is 
it,  then,  unreasonable  to  suppose  that,  in 
order  to  prevent  such  ideas  from  perishing 
from  the  whole   earth,  the  all-powerful  God 


III.]    ITS  COXFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  75 


may  naturally  be  expected  from  time  to  time 
to  manifest  Himself  in  some  unusual  way,  that 
He  may  make  Himself  better  felt  and  known, 
at  least  to  some  portion  of  the  human  race, 
which  may  ultimately  be  the  means  of  spread- 
ing truth  and  light  to  all  ?  Granted  that  there 
is  a  God,  a  revelation,  in  some  form,  we 
cannot  say  what,  may  be  expected. 

Secondly,  how  do  you  account  for  the  un- 
doubted fact  that  certain  persons,  whose  his- 
torical existence  cannot  with  any  show  of 
reason  be  denied,  such  as  Moses  or  Isaiah 
have  believed  that  they  had  some  instruction 
direct  from  God,  other  than  could  be  attaineJ 
by  the  exercise  of  their  natural  faculties,  and 
that,  in  consequence,  they  have  been  able  to 
teach  with  a  power  unknown  before,  and  that 
their  belief  in  this  supernatural  guidance  has, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  greatly  influenced  the  whole 
h'story  of  the  civilization  of  the  world  .''  It 
will  not  do  to  answer  that  Mohammed,  and 
perhaps  the  Buddhist  sage,  have  claimed  some 
similar   enlightenment.      The    question  now 


76       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iii. 


under  this  particular  head  of  our  argument, 
is  not  how  many  people  have  been  thus  en- 
lightened from  God.  The  claims  of  each 
competitor  will  have  to  be  tested  by  the 
strict  scrutiny  of  what  they  did  and  said,  and 
of  the  enduring  and  life-giving  effects  of  their 
teaching.  All  that  is  contended  for  here  is 
that,  instead  of  the  probability  being  against 
God  having  spoken  through  a  direct  manifes- 
tation of  Himself  to  His  creatures,  the  prob- 
ability is  on  the  other  side.  It  may  be 
granted  that  this  probability  does  not,  by 
itself,  amount  to  a  very  strong  argument, 
but,  at  all  events,  it  predisposes  us  to  look 
with  care  to  the  recorded  manifestations  of 
the  Deity,  and  cuts  away  the  ground  from 
under  those  who  would  maintain  that  such 
manifestations  are  altogether  out  of  the 
question. 

Thirdl}',  we  arc  landed  in  the  d'stinct  his- 
torical evidence  for  the  truth  of  Christianity. 
That  Jesus  Christ  lived,  born  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus    Caesar,   and   put   to    death  under 


HI.]    ITS  CONFLICT  IVITH  THE  DEIST.  77 


Tiberius,  is  as  undoubted  a  fact  of  history  as 
that  Cicero  spoke  in  the   Roman  senate,  or 
that  Augustus  or  Tiberius  reigned.    So  also  it  is 
an  undoubted  fact  of  h'terary  history  that  with'n 
some  thirty  years  of  Christ's  death,  certa'n  let- 
ters were  written  by  one  Paul,  a  Jew  of  Tarsus, 
setting  forth  what,  in  consequence  of  Christ's 
life  and  death.  His  followers  believed  respect- 
ing Him,  and  His  connexion  with  the  Eternal 
Father  and  with  the  spiritual  destinies  of  the 
human  race,  and  respecting  the  precepts  which 
He  had  left  for  the  regulation  of  His  disciples 
lives.    I  say  nothing  now  of  the  detailed  narra- 
tives of  the  Evangelists.     Can  any  one  read 
what  wc  know  from  the  barest  survey  of  the 
origin  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  history 
of  its  first  thirty  years,  culminating  in  St.  Paul's 
epistles,   without    allowing   that  Jesus  Christ 
claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  in  that 
capacity  claimed  to  make  known  His  Father's 
will  as  it  had  never  been  known  before  We 
must  drive  our  antagonists  to  the  common  vul- 
gar dilemma,  "  Do  you  hold  Him  to  have  been 


78       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iii. 


impostor  or  wild  enthusiast  ?"  Impostor  is  out 
of  the  question  ;  for  any  one  whose  mind  is 
not  darkened  by  invincible  prejudice  must  allow 
that  we  have  stamped  upon  the  history  of  His 
times  at  least  the  traces  and  chief  lineaments  of 
what  He  spake,  and  how  He  passed  His  life, 
and  I  put  it  to  any  candid  mind  whether  it  is 
possible  that  one  who  so  spake,  and  so  lived, 
could  be  a  mere  impostor.  And  if  you  say, 
"  Not,  of  course,  a  vulgar  impostor,  but  an 
enthusiast,  dreaming  dreams  about  himself  and 
God,  and  not  hesitating  to  force  those  dreams 
upon  mankind  by  any  assistance  of  the  common 
arts  for  spreading  opinion  which  were  familiar 
to  his  day,"  then  let  me  ask  you  what  you  mean 
by  an  enthusiast.  Is  it  one  who  feels  God 
within  him,  as  the  derivation  of  the  word  im- 
plies }  The  question  is  no  longer  whether  Jesus 
Christ  believed  Himself  to  have  a  mission  from 
the  Father,  but  whether  He  was  justified  in  this 
belief.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  the  Father  speaks 
to  the  human  soul  and  consciousness,  how  He 
makes  His  presence  known,  but  certainly  Christ 


III.]     ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  79 


believed  and  taught  that  His  union  with  the 
Father,  whatever  it  miglit  be,  did  open  to  Him 
ready  access  to  the  Eternal  Throne.  Dreams, 
do  you  call  them  ?  They  are  certainly  mar- 
vellous dreams,  embodying  themselves  in  mar- 
vellous discourses,  teaching  a  spiritual  religion 
scarcely  guessed  at  except  h.cre  and  there  by 
ancient  sages  when  they  thought  themselves 
wrapped  in  beatific  vision.  Can  you  prove  that 
this  enthusiast,  as  you  call  Him,  was  wrong 
when  He  felt  and  taught  that  God  was  in  Him  > 
And  if  you  cannot  prove  that  He  was  wrong, 
and  you  allow  that  God  may  not  unnaturally  be 
expected  so  to  manifest  Himself,  read,  I  beseech 
you,  carefully  and  reverently,  as  becomes  the 
subject,  all  that  we  can  learn  of  what  the  Lord 
thought,  and  said,  and  did.  For  the  present 
argument  I  do  not  care  whether  you  take  the 
record  of  His  work  from  the  four  acknowledged 
Evangelists,  or  from  some  of  those  supposed 
earlier  fragments  which  an  ingenious  criticism 
has  delighted  of  late  to  set  up  as  the  rivals  of 
the  Evangelists  ;  they  all  tell  what  is  practically 


8o       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ill. 


the  same  tale,  and  it  is  the  tale  which  St.  Paul 
received  and  recorded.  Do  not  tell  me  here  of 
differences  which  an  exaggerated  hypcrcriticism 
has  tried  to  set  forth  as  existing  between  the 
Christianity  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  The 
main  substance  of  the  Lord's  teaching,  resting 
on  His  Divine  claim,  is  certainly  common  to 
both  apostles.  Study,  then,  the  record  of  this 
teaching,  and  tell  me  whether  man  ever  spake 
like  th's  Man  ;  whether  these  calm  reasonings 
as  to  moral  duty,  and  that  deep  spiritual  in- 
sight into  the  nature  of  the  human  soul  and  the 
source  from  which  it  derives  its  life,  which 
breathe  through  the  records,  can  be  the  product 
of  the  dreams  springing  from  a  heated  and  dis- 
ordered imagination.  If  they  were  dreams  and 
imaginations,  God  sent  them  ;  and,  proceeding 
from  Him,  they  are  the  expression  of  eternal 
truths.  How  have  .they  spoken  to  thousands  of 
souls  during  the  ages,  and  sustained  them  in 
life's  worst  trials  and  in  the  hour  of  death  !  If 
they  do  not  come  from  God,  whence  do  they 
come.'     In  truth,  we  know  them  to  be  His 


III.]     ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  8l 


words  as  clearly  as  if  we  had  heard  them 
spoken  from  the  peak  of  Sinai. 

This,  in  short,  set  forth  in  a  few  lines,  is 
the  conception  we  would  force  upon  our 
philosophers,  of  what  is  meant  by  revelation 
—  God  unveiling  Himself  in  a  marvellous 
way  for  the  instruction  and  guidance  of  His 
creature,  man.  A  marvellous  way — that  is,  a 
way  not  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  com- 
mon rules  according  to  which  ordinarily  the 
natural  reason  and  the  natural  conscience  work. 
Natural  religion,  then,  has  revelation  as  its  sup- 
plement. The  old  Deism  was  an  untenable 
system,  stopping  short  with  natural  religion, 
and  the  so-called  new  Theism  is  no  better,  un- 
less it  makes  some  strange  alliance,  which  seems 
to  be  destructive  of  its  very  first  principles,  with 
a  system  of  rel'gion  based  on  some  distinct 
revelation  from  God.  I  do  not  think  it  an 
unimportant  matter  that  a  man  should  reject 
atheism,  and  systems  akin  to  atheism,  in  favour 
of  a  distinct  belief  in  God.  It  was  a  great 
privilege  which  the  old  Jews  enjoyed,  even  those 


82       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUWRE.  [m. 


of  them  who  were  least  able  to  appreciate  the 
spiritual  promises  of  a  coming  Messiah,  that 
they  believed  in  one  Almighty  God,  whom  they 
recognised  as  their  Heavenly  Father,  and  to 
Whom  they  were  able  to  turn  as  their  support 
and  guide  in  the  emergencies  of  life.  It  would 
be  something  to  be  a  Mohammedan,  with 
his  firm  belief  in  Allah,  were  it  not  for  the 
debasing  influence  of  those  apparently  insepar- 
able surnoundings  which  prevent  the  mono- 
theism of  Islam  from  rising  to  spiritual  percep- 
tion of  God,  and  any  true  spiritual  training  of 
the  human  soul,  and  which  seem  to  have  an 
inevitable  tendency  to  destroy  social  life  and 
thwart  the  progress  of  any  high  civilization.  It 
is  a  privilege  which  the  Parsee  enjoys  that 
through  the  outward  emblem  of  light,  he  reveres 
the  great  First  Cause,  and  in  India,  for  ex- 
ample, keeps  himself  free  from  the  gross  idola- 
tries that  surround  him.  But  all  these  systems, 
while  they  acknowledge  one  great  God  and 
Universal  Father,  and  while  the  gulf  therefore, 
which  separates  them  from  blank  atheism  is 


III.]     ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  83 


deep  and  impassable,  still,  examined  in  their 
entirety,  must  be  pronounced  to  be  very  wanting 
in  the  highest  elements  of  a  Theism  which 
brings  the  soul  near  to  God,  and  represents  God 
as  ever  near  to  the  soul.  Judaism  may  do  this 
far  more  than  the  others  in  its  degree ;  but 
surely  impartial  students  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  must  allow  nowadays  that  Judaism 
points  to  something  beyond  itself,  and  that 
something  is  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Be- 
sides, Judaism  would  not  be  what  it  is,  soaring 
above  human  systems,  if  it  did  not  point 
to  the  revelations  it  has  received. 

I  argue,  then,  that  a  man  who  really  believes 
in  God  must  go  further  than  what  was  of  old 
called  natural  religion.  A  good  Theist,  if  he  is 
true  to  his  convictions,  and  does,  in  very  truth, 
realize  them,  will  keep  near  to  the  God  he  ac- 
knowledges by  placing  himself  in  the  attitude  of 
prayer.  He  will  read  reverently,  and  ponder  over 
instructions  which  profess  to  come  directly  from 
the  Source  of  knowledge.  lie  will  love  the  true, 
the  pure,  and  the  holy,  professing  to  look  up  to 

G  2 


84       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [in. 


One  who  is  absolute  truth,  purity,  and  holiness. 
If  he  does  all  this,  he  is  not  far  from  the  king- 
dom of  God,  and  is  surely  bound  by  the  rules  of 
sound  logic,  and  in  accordance  with  the  dictates 
of  his  highest  reason,  and  the  voices  of  h's  best 
nature,  to  go  forward  and  become  a  Christ'an. 

I  think,  my  Christian  friends,  that  you  will 
do  well,  in  the  conciliatory  spirit  of  love,  to  set 
some  such  considerations  as  these  before  any  of 
your  brothers  who  maybe  disposed  to  rest  their 
hopes  for  time  and  eternity  on  a  Deism  or 
Theism  which  takes  no  account  of  revelation. 
My  distinct  conviction  is  that  such  a  system 
cannot  stand.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  I 
am  advising  all  who  hear  me  to  plunge  into  the 
study  of  the  evidence  for  a  Divine  revelation. 
Such  study  cannot  profitably  be  entered  on 
without  careful  preparation.  But  still,  I  do 
wish  to  note  that  an  acquaintance  with  the 
nature  of  this  evidence  and  .some  of  its  principal 
features  is  very  necessary  in  these  days,  when 
sophistical  arguments,  adverse  to  all  revelation, 
are  perpetually  forced  on  our  attention.    It  is 


III.]    ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  DEIST.  85 


well  that  from  time  to  time,  with  a  view  to  be 
ready  to  defend  ourselves  and  those  whom  we 
can  influence,  as  well  as  to  give  us  confidence 
against  arrogant  and  unscrupulous  attacks,  we 
should,  as  it  were,  take  stock  of  the  contents  of 
our  well-stored  armoury.  And  this  also  I  would 
have  you  note,  that  the  reverent  and  wisely- 
directed  study  of  such  evidence  has  an  elevating 
and  purifying  effect.  It  has  two  departments — 
one  philosophical,  the  other  historical.  I  think 
the  man  who  approaches  such  subjects  in  a  right 
spirit  will  find  that  the  philosophical  part  of  the 
evidence  leads  him  to  dwell  with  humility  and 
adoring  awe  on  what  he  learns  of  God's  nature 
and  of  his  own.  And  this  reverent  contempla- 
tion of  the  nature  of  God  and  of  man  must 
elevate  and  purify  the  mind  ;  while  the  second 
part  of  the  evidence — the  strictly  historical — 
gives  us  more  vivid  conceptions  of  the  reality 
of  the  recorded  facts  by  which  revelation  is 
avouched,  introduces  us  into  greater  familiarity 
with  the  persons  and  characters  whose  teaching 
we  study,  and,   above   all,   enables   us  mcie 


86       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [ill. 


thoroughly  to  appreciate  that  Divine  historical 
picture  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh — Christ 
living  and  dying  for  His  people — around  which 
all  sound  evidence  for  revelation  revolves.  I 
am  not  one  of  those  vifho  distrust  the  study  of 
the  evidences  for  revelation  as  if  they  suggested 
more  doubts  than  they  solve.  Entered  on  with 
suitable  preparation,  and  reverently  conducted, 
such  study  tends,  I  doubt  not,  to  raise  the  whole 
character,  by  bringing  the  intelligence  as  well  as 
the  devotional  feelings,  through  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  more  directly  into  communica- 
tion with  the  true  God,  manifested  in  Jesus 
Christ. 


IV. 


ITS  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST. 

{Delivered  at  Ashford,  on  September  \oth,  to  the 
Rural  Deaneries  of  North  and  South  Lympne'  and 
East  and  West  Charing.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren  and  my  Breth- 
ren THE  Churchwardens, — The  subject  with 
which  I  propose  to  deal  in  my  visitation  address 
to-day  differs  from  the  principal  subject  in  each 
of  my  last  two  addresses  in  this  respect — at  Tun- 
bridge  and  at  Dover  I  spoke  of  the  necessity  of 
our  being  prepared  at  this  time  to  meet,  by  the 
approved  old  arguments,  what  I  believe  to  be 
after  all,  notwithstanding  their  claims  to  novelty, 
two  very  old  forms  of  error  lately  revived  among 
us.  The  system  of  which  I  would  chiefly  speak 
to-day  has  more  appearance  of  being  new. 


88       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


Many  are  greatly  alarmed  by  the  existence  in 
our  Church  of  doctrines  and  errors  more  or  less 
approximating  to  what  our  fathers  regarded  as 
the  exploded  superstitions  of  Rome ;  and  no 
doubt  there  is  an  attractiveness  to  many  minds 
in  mediaeval  forms  of  doctrine  and  of  worship. 
It  ought  to  be  the  part  of  those  who  guide  the 
thought  of  the  Church  in  this  age  to  teach  men 
how  to  prize  and  use  aright  the  freedom  vindi- 
cated for  them  at  the  Reformation,  and  so  to 
imbue  their  minds  with  love  of  Apostolic  Chris- 
tianity, that  they  may  easily  cast  off  the  in- 
fection of  that  spurious  and  distempered  system 
which  in  dark  times  tainted  and  corrupted  its 
simplicity.  As  I  have  said  before,  I  am  in  noway 
insensible  to  dangers  of  this  kind,  and  I  trust 
they  will  be  met  by  sound  Church  of  England 
teaching,  maintaining  the  doctrines  of  the  pure 
Gospel,  as  taught  in  primitive  times.  But,  great 
as  this  danger  may  be,  it  is  not  to  blind  us  to 
others  of  a  totally  different  kind,  to  which  I 
wish  principally  to  direct  attention  to-day.  In- 
deed, in  my  judgment  almost  the  gravest  danger 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  89 


from  the  strange  revival,  here  and  there,  of 
superstition  in  this  nineteenth  century  arises 
from  the  reaction  which  it  is  certain  to  pro- 
duce. The  current  of  popular  opinion  through- 
out the  world  is  all  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
superstition  ;  and  I  have  great  fear  lest,  in  the 
long  run,  the  faith  of  our  Church  and  country 
may  suffer  far  more  by  abstraction  from  than 
by  addition  to  its  approved  system  of  Christian 
doctrine.  It  is  curious  to  observe  how,  within 
the  last  few  years,  there  have  been  signs  that 
some  of  those  who  would  reduce  Christian 
doctrine  to  very  meagre  limits,  do  not  hesitate 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  popular  taste  for 
outward  ceremonial,  and  make  in  appearance 
a  strange  alliance  with  the  system  to  which 
in  truth  they  are  most  distinctly  opposed. 

There  is,  I  hold,  real  ground  to  fear  lest  the 
tendencies  of  this  age  result  in  the  prevalence  of 
a  lax  view  of  Christian  doctrine  and  teaching,  in 
many  respects  unlike  anything  with  which  our 
country  has  in  former  times  been  familiar. 
Presenting  itself  under  the  guise  of  an  improved 


90       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


and  more  rational  Christianity,  speaking  with  the 
greatest  respect  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His 
Apostles  ;  professing  to  regard  them  as  great 
benefactors  of  the  human  race,  and  even  admit- 
ting that  the  historical  Christ  is  in  some  sense 
a  wonderful  manifestation  of  God  brought  near 
to  man,  it  virtually  substitutes  a  new  in  the 
place  of  the  old  genuine  Gospel.  The  old 
Unitarianism  had  something  in  it  akin  to  this 
system,  and  some  modern  Unitarians  seem  to 
have  adopted  it.  We  do  not  deny  that  its  pro- 
moters have  high  aims,  a  zeal  for  the  pure 
morality  of  the  Gospel,  and  many  lofty  aspi- 
rations after  holiness  and  intercourse  with  God. 
But,  convinced  as  I  am  that  there  is  something 
very  hollow  in  it,  I  cannot  look  on  without  great 
alarm,  if  it  be  true  that  attempts  are  made  to 
present  our  children  and  young  people  with  this 
substitute  for  the  real  Gospel.  Should  it  pre- 
vail, I  fear  we  must  bid  farewell  to  a  true  con- 
ception of  human  nature  and  the  hatefulness  of 
sin,  and  lose  the  most  powerful  motives  which 
can  guide  human  life,  and  be  content  to  sink 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  91 


to  views  of  Christian  duty  and  tlie  elevation  of 
the  Christian  character  very  different  from  those 
which  animated  the  Apostles. 

1  have  endeavoured  to  set  forth,  in  my  former 
addresses,  my  grounds  for  the  expectation  that 
our  countrymen  will  not,  in  the  coming  age,  give 
themselves  up  either  to  an  atheistical  or  to  a 
simply  Deistical  philosophy.  Are  we  equally 
secured  against  a  meagre  sublimated  Christian'ty, 
such  as  St.  Paul  certainly  would  not  have  recog- 
nised as  the  Gospel  which  saved  his  soul,  and 
to  which  he  devoted  his  life.'  I  say  St.  Paul, 
because,  I  take  it,  our  neo-Platonists,  or  by 
whatever  name  they  are  to  be  designated,  will 
grant  to  us  that  St.  Paul's  Christianity  and 
theirs  is  very  different.  1  do  net  suppose  that 
they  are  any  better  satisfied  with  that  form  of 
the  original  Gospel  which,  as  we  have  seen 
before,  certain  ingenious  critics,  more  or  less 
connected  with  their  school,  are  fond  of  attri- 
buting to  St.  Peter,  whom  they  would  represent 
as  the  antagonist  of  St.  Paul.  I  have  alluded 
before  to  some  sure  grounds  for  the  conviction 


92        THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


that  there  never  was  in  existence  any  earHer 
form  of  Christianity  of  a  so-called  more  philo- 
sophic cast,  of  which  St.  Paul's  and  St.  Peter's 
teaching  was  an  exaggerated  caricature.  In 
spite  of  all  the  cavilling  of  what  calls  itself  the 
advanced  criticism,  there  remain  sure  historical 
grounds  for  the  assumption  that  there  never  was 
any  earlier  form  of  Christianity  than  that  to 
which  these  Apostles  devoted  their  lives.  A 
Christianity  with  the  supernatural  element  elim.i- 
nated  from  it  would  have  appeared  to  them,  as 
it  justly  appears  to  us,  to  be  no  Christianity 
at  all. 

Our  great  apologists  of  the  last  century 
rightly  and  wisely  turned  to  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ,  as  the  central  point  to  which  the 
whole  conflict  with  infidelity  must  be  directed. 
They  agreed  with  St.  Paul :  "  If  Christ  be  not 
risen,  then  is  your  faith  vain ;  ye  are  yet  in 
your  sins."  I  remember  being  visited  in  my 
rooms  at  Oxford,  now  some  forty  years  ago, 
by  a  young  German,  a  disciple  of  this  new 
Christianity.    I  have  seen  the  incident  recorded 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  93 


in  some  periodical  of  late  years  ;  but  it  was  to 
myself  that  it  happened.  Tlie  young  man 
seemed  to  me  in  his  rash  statements  to  be 
very  ignorant  of  the  Bible.  I  made  him  read 
the  isth  Chapter  of  the  ist  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  which  appeared  to  be  somewhat 
new  to  him.  He  read  it  attentively,  and,  when 
he  had  finished  it,  he  said,  "  He  was  a  good 
man  Pauhis,  but  he  had  h's  fancies,  and  this 
was  one  of  them."  This,  in  fact,  is  the  key  of 
the  position.  Is  St.  Paul's  account  of  the 
Resurrection  a  mere  fancy,  or  is  it  based  on 
a  real  historical  fact  ?  That  he  himself  held 
it  to  be  historical  and  real  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  The  way  in  which  he  treats  the  subject 
• — the  whole  narrative  which  he  gives  of  the 
Lord's  appearance  after  His  death  —  the 
witnesses  still  living  to  whom  he  appeals — 
leave  no  doubt  of  what  he  thought  of  the 
Resurrection.  And  if  he  adds,  "  Last  of  all 
He  was  seen  of  me  also,  as  of  one  born  out  of 
due  time,"  do  these  words,  describing  his  own 
ecstatic  vision,  lessen  the  force  of  what  he  tells 


94       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


.  us  of  the  appearances  vouchsafed  to  others, 
whether  they  were  or  were  not  in  many 
respects  dissimilar  in  kind  from  the  vision 
which  he  saw  apparently  not  once  only,  but 
many  times  throughout  his  life  ?  Would  there 
be  anytliing  unnatural  in  St.  John,  on  the  sea- 
shore at  Patmos,  welcoming  the  wonderful 
vision  and  the  heavenly  voice  vouchsafed  to 
him  in  his  ecstasy,  as  a  fresh  assurance  to 
his  soul  that  the  Friend,  whom  he  had  known 
living  upon  earth,  whom  he  had  seen  die,  and 
whom  afterwards  he  had  seen  living,  was 
indeed  alive  for  evermore  ?  So  St.  Paul,  in 
like  manner,  deploring  that  he  had  been  so 
long  a  stranger  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and 
had  not  been  associated  with  the  disciples 
during  those  forty  days  when  the  risen  Lord 
mysteriously  lingered  near  them  on  this  earth 
after  His  death  and  resurrection,  naturally 
breaks  out—"  Though  I  had  not  this  privilege, 
and  was  as  one  born  out  of  due  time,  yet  I 
too  in  my  degree — and  according  to  the  laws 
which  regulate  the  existence  of  the  Eternal 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  95 


Son,  now  that  He  has  gone  back  to  the  presence 
of  the  Father — I,  too,  have  seen  my  Lord,  and 
am  strengthened  by  an  assurance  that  He  is 
still  living  and  is  at  hand  to  help  me."  What 
was  the  e.xact  nature  of  those  manifestations 
by  which  Christ,  during  the  forty  days,  from 
the  first  Easter  to  the  first  Ascension  Day, 
assured  His  disciples  that  death  had  no  power 
over  His  combined  spiritual  and  fleshly  nature, 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  We  have  in  our  hands 
an  account  of  the  events  which  has  every  claim 
to  be  deemed  historical.  We  are  not  entitled 
to  make  more  of  the  recorded  events,  or  less, 
than  the  text  warrants.  On  this,  however,  we 
are  justified  in  saying  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is 
built ;  that  He  who  lived  and  taught  among 
His  disciples,  having  ended  His  earthly  course 
by  death,  proved  incontestably  to  them  after  He 
had  died  that  death  had  no  more  dominion 
over  Him.  His  nature,  like  ours,  consisted  of 
compound  elements,  which  we  designate  as 
soul  and  body  :  of  these  compacted  there 
was  one    Man,  and   in  some  mysterious  and 


96       THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


supernatural  way,  which  approved  itself  to 
their  senses  and  their  reason,  He  manifested  to 
His  disciples  that  the  whole  man,  Jesus  Christ, 
in  His  compound  nature,  was  living  after  death. 
Till  He  did  so,  they  mournfully  thought  they 
were  disappointed  by  His  death  in  their  hopes 
that  it  was  He  who  should  have  restored  and 
built  up  the  Israel  of  God.  From  the  assur- 
ances He  gave  them  by  His  appearances  they 
gained  a  new  strength.  If  Christ  had  died, 
and  there  was  an  end  of  Him,  His  precepts 
might  indeed  live  as  those  of  any  other  Rabbi 
or  of  any  one  of  the  old  Prophets,  but  the 
hopes  that  were  to  sustain  His  Church  in  its 
conflict  with  a  persecuting  world,  even  unto 
death— where  were  they  Buried  in  the  grave 
with  Him.  Where  was  the  assurance  of  the 
truth  of  all  He  had  taught  them—"  I  am 
the  Resurrection  and  the  Life "  "  He  that 
believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live,  and  whosoever  hVcth  and  be- 
I'evcth  in  Me  shall  never  d'e".'  Is  it  not  the 
echo  of  these  words  that  we  find  per\'^ading 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  97 

the  whole  system  of  the  Gospel  as  it  went 
forth  in  the  first  age  to  draw  the  world  aft  r 
it  ?  What  else  sustained  its  despised  followers 
when  persecution  raged,  first  through  Jewish 
hatred,  and  afterwards  through  the  arbitrary 
decrees  of  Roman  law,  alarmed  at  the  sight 
of  the  deserted  temples  ?  Jesus  lives,  and  has 
been  proved  to  be  alive.  He  is  at  the  Father's 
right  hand  making  intercession  for  us,  as 
Stephen  saw  the  Lord  when  in  the  hour  of 
supreme  agony  he  commended  to  Him  his 
departing  spirit.  And  the  death  of  Christ,  did 
it  not  become  itself  a  source  of  life  to  perishing 
souls,  through  the  assurance  given  by  the 
Resurrection  that  the  life  laid  down  for  man 
was  surrendered  voluntarily  by  One  Who,  in 
His  own  nature,  had  power  over  death  and 
hell  }  And  is  it  not  a  conviction  of  these 
truths,  all  based  on  Christ's  rising  from  the 
dead,  that  through  the  ages  has  made  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  what  it  is  to  us— the  consoler 
of  the  sorrowful,  the  healer  of  the  conscience- 
stricken,  the  antidote  against  the  fear  of  death  >. 

H 


98 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[iv. 


The  Gospel,  therefore,  with  the  supernatural 
element  eliminated,  has  ceased  to  be  the 
Gospel ;  it  may  be  a  philosophy  with  more 
or  less  of  claim  to  a  preference  over  other 
human  systems;  but  it  is  not  that  which  the 
Apostles  received  from  the  Lord  and  handed 
down  from  Him  to  be  the  guide  of  all  nations. 

It  will  be  understood  that  it  is  impossible 
in  this  short  compass  to  embody  more  than 
a  very  slight  sketch  of  the  arguments  which 
I  believe  exclude  the  idea  of  a  Christianity 
without  the  Resurrection.  The  more  you 
examine  the  matter,  the  more,  I  believe,  will 
you  be  convinced  that  this  great  Christian 
tiuth  is  the  keystone  on  which  the  Gospel 
rests  ;  and  certainly  if  there  be  no  Gospel 
without  the  Resurrection,  there  is  none  with- 
out the  supernatural.  The  Resurrection  once 
granted,  it  becomes  a  question  merely  of 
more  or  less,  how  far  or  with  what  qualifi- 
cations every  detail  of  each  recorded  influence 
of  the  supernatural  is  to  form  an  integral  part 
of  the  Christian    Creed.     With   the  general 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  99 


arguments  establishing  the  inspiration  of  the 
sacred  records,  we  have  at  present  nothing 
logically  to  do.  And  certainly,  apart  from 
such  general  arguments  for  inspiration,  no 
one  who  understands  the  subject  will  contend 
that  each  separate  miracle,  taken  by  itself, 
rests  on  the  same  historical  evidence  as  the 
one  great  central  fact  of  the  Resurrection. 
After  the  questions  connected  with  the  in- 
spiration of  the  sacred  writers  have  been  fully 
discussed,  the  degree  of  certainty  as  to  each 
detail  obtained  from  its  incorporation  in  the 
historical  narrative  may  be  rightly  estimated  ; 
but  at  present,  and,  indeed,  in  all  treatises 
on  evidences,  properly  so  called,  the  books 
containing  the  facts  of  sacred  history  must 
be  regarded  in  the  first  instance  not  as  proved 
to  be  inspired,  but  as  ordinary  historical  docu- 
ments. This  they  certainly  are,  independently 
of  the  higher  character  which  can  afterwards 
be  vindicated  for  them. 

Now  let  us  stop  to  consider  how  the  general 
argument   as  to  the  Gospel  miracles  stands, 

H  2 


lOO     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[IV. 


when  we  view  it  apart  from  any  theoiy  of  in- 
spiration. The  -detailed  narratives  of  the  Lord's 
hfe  contain  the  account  of  a  great  many  mir- 
acles. It  is  important  to  observe,  as  we  have 
done  above,  that  the  Epistles,  as  well  as  the 
Gospels,  make  Christianity  to  rest  on  a  super- 
natural, otherwise  called  a  miraculous,  bas's. 
There  is,  therefore,  an  a  priori  probab  lity  that 
the  life  as  well  as  the  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
was  attended  by  supernatural  manifestations. 
Indeed,  if  He  was  what  the  Resurrection,  with 
its  sequel,  proves  Him  to  have  been,  He  could 
not  have  come  into  this  world  and  moved  as 
He  did  among  men  without  an  effort  of  super- 
natural and  miraculous  power.  The  ordinary 
course  and  laws  of  nature,  as  manifested  in  the 
common  history  of  man,  were  not  capable  of 
producing  such  a  one  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
proved  by  His  Resurection  to  be.  Therefore, 
before  the  mysterious  narrative  of  His  Incarna- 
tion we  bow  in  awestruck  silence.  How  could 
the  Son  of  God  cd.tis  into  the  world No 
mere  human  experience  can  tell  you.  We  know 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RA  TIONALIST.  loi 


what  was  believed  by  His  disciples  in  the  earli- 
est age,  when  they  had  learnt  to  recognise  how 
superhuman  was  His  nature.  No  other  account 
of  the  mystery  has  ever  found  credit  in  the 
Church  ;  and  if  you  believe  in  Christ's  Resur- 
rection, I  see  not  how  you  can  logically  hesitate 
at  the  mystery  of  His  Incarnation.  Also,  being 
such  a  One  as  His  Resurrection  proved  Him, 
He  must  surely,  through  all  His  early  life,  have 
had  around  him  a  halo  of  the  supernatural. 
When,  therefore,  the  narratives  of  the  Evan- 
gelists are  placed  in  your  hands  as  corroborat- 
ing in  detail  the  more  general  statements  of 
St.  Paul,  you  have  no  cause  to  be  surprised 
when  you  find  them  such  as  they  are,  and  you 
read  and  ponder  on  their  minutest  details  with 
a  reverence  which  you  agree  with  the  Church 
Universal  in  believing  to  be  their  due. 

The  prejudice  against  miracles  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  present  age  is  unreason- 
able, and  has  been  imported  into  the  sort  of 
Christianity  of  which  we  have  been  speaking, 
from  Hume  and  from  the  Deists  of  the  last 


102     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 

century.  We  are  not  to  surrender  our  reason  in 
judging  the  evidence  for  the  miraculous  ;  but  it 
is  equally  unreasonable  to  pronounce,  with  not 
a  few  sceptics  of  the  present  day,  who  have 
recurred  to  the  language  of  Hume,  that  all 
miracles  are  in  themselves  impossible,  or,  at 
least,  incapable  of  proof  To  say  this  is  to  beg 
the  question.  The  very  question  before  us  is 
whether  some  miracles  have  not  been  proved, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  sound  reason,  by  historical 
evidence  that  cannot  be  confuted,  and  it  will 
never  do  to  keep  harping  on  the  general  pre- 
mise that  they  are  impossible,  in  answer  to  our 
tangible  and  manifest  good  proofs  that  they 
have  happened.  Moreover,  I  would  have  our 
antagonists  consider  that  their  prejudice  against 
the  introduction  of  the  miraculous  into  the 
scheme  of  the  true  religion  is  not  only  un- 
reasonable, but  shows  a  great  ignorance  of 
human  nature.  Do  some  of  them  in  their  philo- 
sophical exultation  stumble  at  all  narratives  of 
the  miraculous  and  think  that  they  could 
believe  a  religion   far  better  which  had  no 


iiv.]  ONFLICT  WITH  THE  RA  TIONAIJST.  103 


miracles  ?  I  must  remind  them  first  of  all  th  .t 
there  are  grave  doubts  whether  there  can  by 
possibility  be  any  such  religion.  All  religion 
allows  that  there  is  a  God.  If  the  existence 
of  God  be  granted — the  existence,  that  is,  of  a 
great  first  cause  antecedent  to  the  establishment 
of  the  laws  of  ordinary  nature — creation  follows, 
the  greatest  of  all  miracles.  Again,  all  religion 
has  to  do  with  an  unseen  God,  and  His  unseen 
but  felt  influence  on  the  destinies  of  man.  We 
know  nothing  of  Him,  apart  from  a  recognition 
of  something  which  is  supernatural.  And  so 
strongly  has  this  true  idea  of  what  religion  s 
fixed  itself  on  the  human  mind,  that  I  am  bold 
to  say  that  through  the  nineteen  centuries  since 
Christ  was  born,  and  long  before,  this  very 
supernatural  element,  which  is  a  stumblingblock 
to  many  of  our  philosophers  in  these  later  days, 
has  been  an  attraction  to  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  simple  souls  for  whom  the  Gospel  has 
been  the  Gospel  of  Life  in  so  many  countries 
and  in  so  many  varying  stages  of  civilisa- 
tion.   Is  it  inconceivable  to  these  enlightened 


I04     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


philosophers  that  God  Ahiiighty,  who  desired  to 
bring  His  supernatural  truth  home  to  the  hearts 
of  these  perishing  thousands  of  the  human  race, 
may  have  taken  care  from  the  very  first,  out  of 
His  fatherly  goodness,  that  this  supernatural 
religion  which  He  desired  to  teach  them 
should  be  borne  along  in  the  true  history  of  its 
Founder  with  a  flood  of  such  supernatural  inci- 
dents as  were  likely  to  arrest  the  r  attention,  to 
win  their  sympathy,  and  cling  to  their  hearts? 
The  truly  wise  man  will  know  what  helps  these 
miracles  have  been  to  many  thousands  ;  he  will 
not  measure  others  by  his  own  supercilious  ob- 
jections to  them,  and  he  will  study  the  records 
which  contain  them  with  a  deep  consciousness 
that  he  is  in  the  presence  and  is  tracing  the 
ways  of  One  Who  is  above  ordinary  nature. 

I  am  aware  that  some  of  our  antagonists  try 
to  draw  a  line  between  the  supernatural  and  the 
miraculous,  but  the  manifestation  of  the  super- 
natural is  a  miracle ;  and  what  I  have  been 
contending  for  is  th's— that  the  whole  of 
Christianity  is  built  upon  a  manifestion  of  the 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  105 


supernatural.  We  need  not  enter  here  on 
Bishop  Butler's  suggestion  that  what  we  call 
miracles  may  be  not  any  stopping  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  but  the  manifestation  of  some  higher 
order  of  nature,  which  has  its  own  higher  laws, 
capable  of  intervening  at  the  times  and  under 
the  circumstances  which  God  has  fixed  for  their 
appearance.  I  must  refer  the  candid  student  to 
Bishop  Butler's  treatment  of  this  subject. 

But  then,  after  all,  it  is  asserted  that  apolo- 
gists are  too  apt  to  waste  their  time  on  the 
question  of  whether  miracles  are  possible  or 
not,  instead  of  producing  instances  in  which 
they  arc  proved  by  conclusive  evidence  to  have 
taken  place.  I  answer  that  if  we  are  guilty  of 
this  fault  our  antagonists  have  themselves  to 
thank  for  it,  since,  as  I  have  said  abjve,  from 
Hume  downwards,  it  is  certain  that  they  rest 
their  arguments  on  an  asserted  or  implied  pre- 
mise— that  miracles  are  impossible,  or,  at  least, 
inadmissible.  What  we  have  said  of  the  evi- 
dences for  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  ought  to 
save  our  present  argument  from  this  objection. 


Io6     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [iv. 


Prejudiced  persons  may  maintain  that  the  evi- 
dence as  adduced  by  St.  Paul  and  the  Evange- 
lists would  not  hold  good  in  a  court  of  justice 
if  it  were  brought  forward  in  a  trial  on  which 
a  man's  life  depended.  I  deny  this.  But  let 
me  remind  you,  also,  that  what  we  are  main- 
taining is  not  what  might  or  m'ght  not  be 
thought  sufficient  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice, 
but  what  is  sufficient  evidence  to  establish  the 
truth  of  a  fact  in  history.  I  will  not  allow 
you  to  say  an  improbable  fact,  for  on  the  hypo- 
theses as  to  God  and  man's  nature,  which  in 
this  branch  of  our  discussion  both  we  and  our 
antagonists  acknowledge,  the  thing  contended 
for  is  proved  not  to  be  improbable.  We  are 
bound  to  approach  the  examination  of  it  in 
the  same  impartial  frame  of  mind  in  which  we 
should  test  any  other  alleged  facts,  and  I  am 
confident  that  the  historical  verdict  must  be 
on  our  side. 

But  here  let  us  be  done  with  the  dry  argu- 
ments which,  however  they  satis*)'  the  intellect 
scarcely  reach  the  heart.     Does  any  earnest- 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  1 07 


minded  searcher  after  truth  declare  that  he 
prefers  to  dwell  rather  on  the  moral  than  on 
the  strictly  logical  evidences  for  his  faith  ? 
Let  him  receive  every  encouragement  to  do  so. 
Such  moral  evidences  afford  a  more  wholesome 
food  for  the  soul  to  feed  on.  Christ  manifested 
as  the  God-man,  the  perfection  of  humanity, 
raising  from  the  contempt  to  which  ancient 
systems  had  reduced  them  the  lowly  virtues 
which  we  esteem  as  the  highest  Christian  graces 
— the  contemplation  .of  this  model  must  raise 
the  soul  to  those  heights  above  human  nature, 
from  which  the  God-man  came,  and  to  which 
He  has  ascended.  Or  shall  we  contemplat;  the 
totally  changed  view  of  man  s  life  and  destiny 
into  which  the  advent  of  the  Son  of  God  has 
introduced  us }  How  different  a  thing  is  the 
end  of  life  now  from  what  it  was  before  Christ's 
rising.  How  many  thousand  saints  have  felt 
this  difference  as  they  approached  to  death  and 
passed  through  it.  And  life  as  well  as  death 
— how  has  it  been  changed.  What  a  dignity 
has  the   human  body  and  the  human  mind 


I08      THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [i 


attained  from  what  the  Gospel  teaches  us  of  its 
union  through  Christ  with  the  divine.  And  our 
thoughts  of  God  :  how  much  nearer  is  the  Al- 
mighty Father  brought  to  His  creatures  through 
His  manifestation  in  the  Son.  The  Fatherhood 
of  God :  how  much  better  is  it  comprehended. 
How  is  He  shown  to  love  every  separate  human 
soul,  and  with  what  dignity  are  such  souls  in- 
vested as  loved  by  Him.  God  is  no  longer  a 
God  at  a  distance,  nor  the  God  only  of  a  pri- 
vileged race.  He  has  manifested  Himself  as 
inviting  the  poorest  slave  under  the  most 
oppressive  thraldom,  the  outcast,  barbarian,  or 
savage,  to  draw  near  to  Him  and  to  open  the 
heart  in  His  presence.  Does  a  man  feel  his 
whole  being  elevated  while  he  meditates  on 
^such  evidences  as  these,  attesting  the  super- 
natural and  divine  origin  of  Christianity.' 
And  while  he  dwells  on  what  Christ  was 
during  His  earthy  sojourn,  does  it  please 
him  to  uplift  his  soul  to  the  Eternal  Son 
now  living  in  the  highest  heaven,  and 
feeling    and    caring     for    the     humblest  of 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  109 


mankind  ?  And  so  employed,  does  the  man  de- 
clare that  he  is  better  occupied  than  by  poring 
over  dry  argumentative  proofs  of  the  value 
of  the  historical  record  setting  forth  the  steps 
by  which  the  Divine  Saviour  mounted  to  His 
Kingdom,  and  showed  His  people  whence  He 
came  and  whither  He  was  going?  No  sen- 
sible person  would  desire  to  divert  his  friend's 
mind  from  such  elevating  contemplations.  It 
is  not  with  the  positive,  but  the  negative  part 
of  the  modern  so-called  philosophic  theory  of 
Christianity  that  we  find  fault.  We  rejoice  at 
what  the  man  believes  of  Christ  and  of  His 
power  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  human  soul, 
and  of  a  life  secured  for  the  faithful  with 
Christ  hereafter.  We  desire  indeed  to  add  a 
fuller  dogmatic  teaching  of  all  the  Christian 
verities,  to  what  his  system  of  philosophy  has 
already  grasped,  but,  rejoicing  in  the  thought  of 
that  "  whereunto  he  has  already  attained,"  our 
chief  effort  will  be  to  urge  him  to  live  according 
to  his  faith,  and  we  trust  that  such  living  will 
enable  him   in   time   to  agree  more  entirely 


I  lO     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[IV. 


with  the  teaching  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
Bible. 

There  is  a  lesson  impressed  on  us  by  his  case, 
and  we  shall  do  well  to  carry  it  into  every 
religious  controversy  which  is  forced  upon  us. 
We  differ  seriously  from  our  antagonists,  but 
the  first  thing  to  ascertain  in  the  controversy 
is,  What  are  the  points  on  which  we  agree 
Most  earnest-minded  men  are,  in  truth,  very 
much  better  than  a  cold  logical  statement  of 
their  abstract  beliefs  would  represent  them. 
Are  they  one  with  us  on  any  points  on  which 
they  can  make  with  us  common  cause  Do 
they  agree  with  us,  for  example,  on  the  immu- 
table distinctions  between  right  and  wrong.' 
Do  they  assent  to  the  doctrine  that  we  have 
the  means  of  knowing  the  one  from  the  other, 
and  are  bound  to  seek  the  good,  though  they 
differ  from  us  as  to  the  source  from  which 
conscience  springs,  and  the  test  by  which  it 
arrives  at  its  decisions So  far  so  good,  and 
we  may  hope  on  these  foundations  of  a  right 
belief  to  lead  even  the  Atheist  onwards  and 


IV.]  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  1 1 1 


upwards.  But,  further,  do  they  agree  with  us 
that  there  is  a  great  God  in  Heaven,  Who 
must  be  able,  if  He  wills,  to  read  our  inmost 
thoughts }  Let  us  urge  on  the  Theist  to 
realise  continually  the  full  force  of  this  doc- 
trine which  he  recognises,  its  bearing  on  an 
all-pervading  Providence,  its  suggestion  that 
if  God  is,  it  may  be  possible  for  the  soul  to 
hold  communion  with  Him.  And  if  we  are 
right,  in  the  charity  which  hopeth  all  things, 
to  act  on  the  principle  thus  laid  down,  in 
dealing  with  these  two  sets  of  bold  deniers  of 
the  truth  of  Christianity,  how  much  more  must 
it  be  our  duty  not  harshly  to  repel  any  who 
claim  for  themselves  the  Christian  name,  and 
have  a  Christian  faith,  however  defective 
Nothing  will  be  lost,  but  much  gained,  by 
our  assuming  the  attitude  of  a  tolerant  and 
loving  desire,  while  we  gladly  welcome  the 
truth  which  they  have  received,  to  lead  them  on 
to  further  truth.  Such  an  attitude  is  most  like 
that  of  our  Heavenly  Master,  Who  sought  to 
cherish  the  good  in  every  man,  and  by  cherish- 


1X2     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.,  [iv. 


ing  it  to  foster  it  into  a  brighter  and  truer 
light.  Yet  with  all  this  toleration  and  kindly 
consideration  for  the  opinions  of  others,  we 
are  not  to  forget  the  sound  arguments,  to 
which,  in  this  address,  I  have  endeavoured  to 
point,  whereby  I  believe  it  to  be  shown  that 
this  so-called  philosophical  Christianity  will  be 
found  wanting  when  weighed  in  the  balance, 
and  must,  as  sound  reason  and  goodness  pre- 
vail, vanish  away  before  the  full  and  true 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Brethren,  excuse  me  if,  in  the  conviction  of 
imminent  dangers  besetting  the  purity  of  our 
faith,  I  have  dwelt  more  than  was,  perhaps, 
naturally  to  be  expected  in  a  diocesan  charge, 
on  matters  concerning,  not  ourselves  only,  but 
the  whole  Church  of  Christ.  We  shall  m.ake 
very  little  progress  in  the  distinctively  Church 
of  England  work  of  our  separate  parishes,  if 
there  be  any  real  danger  lest  the  whole  Church 
and  faith  of  Christ  throughout  the  world  be 
unable  to  maintain  itself  in  the  conflict  with 
which  these  latter  days  have  brought  us  face 


iv.l  CONFLICT  WITH  THE  RATIONALIST.  1 13 


to  face.  I  therefore  commend  to  the  thought- 
ful consideration  of  all  the  nature  of  the 
conflict  in  which  the  whole  Church  seems  to 
me  to  be  involved,  desiring  that  all  of  us,  one 
by  one,  may  turn  to  the  Source  of  Life  ;  that, 
resting  on  the  truth  of  the  historical  narratives 
respecting  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  we  may 
be  strengthened  in  our  several  spheres  to 
advance  better  in  our  separate  work  for  God, 


I 


V. 


ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING. 

{Delivered  at  Canterbury,  on.  September  22nd,  to 
the  Rural  Deaneries  of  Canterbury,  Ospringe,  West- 
bere,  West  Bridge,  and  Sitiingbourne.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren,  and  my 
Brethren  the  CHURCHWAROENs-In  the 
earlier  addresses  delivered  at  this  visitation  I 
have  spoken  of  modern  speculations  antagonistic 
to  the  pure  Gospel  of  Christ,  which  are,  in  many 
cases,  but  the  revival  of  old  exploded  errors. 
Let  me  not  be  understood  as  in  any  way  de- 
precating a  just  freedom  of  thought,  or  the  full 
development  of  scientific  research.  No  reason- 
able Christian  will  fail  to  be  grateful  for  the 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  115 


remarkable  progress  made  of  late  years  in  accu- 
rate observation  of  the  phenomena  of  nature,  and 
the  classification  of  the  laws  through  which  the 
Creator  works.  We  hail  with  real  gratitude  the 
unfolding  of  the  history  of  the  changes  through 
which  creation  has  passed,  so  far  as  its  sequence 
has  been  established  by  researches  which  rest 
on  a  real  scientific  basis.  We  are  grateful, 
also,  for  the  wonderful  accessions  made  of 
late  years  to  our  knowledge  of  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  races  of  man,  of  the  memorials 
of  their  feeble  efforts  after  civilization,  of  the 
great  progress  they  attained  in  the  establish- 
ment of  ancient  dynasties,  under  the  shadow 
of  which  arts  flourished,  and  a  powerful,  though 
it  might  be  a  barbaric,  culture  reigned.  We  are 
thankful  for  all  real  additions  to  the  sum  of 
human  knowledge,  though  we  object  to  the 
attempt  occasionally  made  in  these  restless  days 
to  palm  off  upon  us  mere  imaginative  conjec- 
tures as  the  conclusions  of  science.  We  are 
glad  that  the  affinities  of  the  various  languages, 
and  the  relations  of  the  several  races  of  man, 

1  2 


I  1 6      THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


are  better  understood  than  they  were  a  hundred 
years  ago;  and  we  give  full  weight  to  all  that 
has  been  established  by  such  discoveries.  Our 
soundest  divines,  no  doubt,  fully  admit  that 
many  questions  connected  with  the  form  in 
which  theology  is  taught  may,  in  consequence 
of  what  we  now  know  as  to  language,  ancient 
monuments,  and  the  earth's  changes,  require 
reconsideration  and  readjustment,  while  we  hold 
fast  the  substance  of  our  theological  teaching. 
I  shall  never  forget  how  some  fifty  years  ago  I 
casually  entered  the  lecture-room  in  which  Chal- 
mers was  addressing  his  students  on  difficulties 
supposed  to  arise  from  the  geological  speculations 
as  to  the  days  of  creation,  which  had  then  just 
begun  to  attract  more  than  usual  attention. 
That  great  master,  an  ardent  disciple  of  science, 
as  well  as  a  divine,  warned  his  hearers  not  to  be 
moved  by  any  unworthy  fears,  as  though  science 
and  religion  could  be  antagonistic  the  one  to  the 
other.  He  pointed  out  how  the  geological  specu- 
lations to  which  he  alluded  raised  a  contest  only 
about    outworks,    while    the    central  fortress 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  II7 


remained  impregnable  within.  And,  I  suppose, 
there  are  few  intelligent  students  of  theology 
nowadays,  who  see  any  inconsistency  between 
the  teaching  of  approved  geological  sciences 
and  the  great  central  truths  respecting  God  and 
man's  nature,  communicated  to  us  in  the  Mosaic 
records.  No  doubt  a  view  of  these  records,  some- 
what different  from  that  to  which  we  were 
accustomed  in  old  days,  is  implied  in  this  change 
of  thought  ;  but  neither  in  respect  of  the  early 
books  of  Scripture,  nor  indeed  of  any  portion  of 
what  the  Church  has  received  and  handed  down 
as  the  Word  of  God,  is  there  any  change  in  the 
reverence  attaching  to  that  teaching  by  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  intended  these  books  to 
guide  the  soul.  With  science  generally,  and 
with  that  scientific,  philological,  and  historical 
criticism,  which,  for  the  last  hundred  years,  in 
this  country  and  in  German}^,  has  been  sifting 
the  sacred  books  with  the  minuteness  of  a 
micro.scopical  examination,  we  have  no  fault  to 
find,  where  the  researches  of  students  have  been 
conducted  in  the  reverent  and  humble  spirit  of 


1 1 8     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[V. 


true  philosophy.  And  we  feel  that  our  faith  in 
the  great  central  Christian  verities  has  come 
forth  unharmed  from  the  scrutiny  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected.  Nay,  that  they  shine  with 
a  brighter  light,  proved,  after  having  been  tried, 
to  be  reflections  from  the  very  Source  of  light. 

It  is  time  now  that  I  should  proceed  to  lay 
before  you,  somewhat  in  detail,  what  I  trust  will 
stand  in  the  coming  age  as  it  stands  now,  when 
the  philosophies,  which  somewhat  ostentatiously 
claim  to  supersede  it,  shall  have  been  seen  in 
their  true  dimensions.  Undoubtedly,  then,  the 
guide  of  the  coming  age  will  be  a  Church — the 
Church  of  Christ  in  our  land — and  not  simply  a 
philosophy — a  Church  with  a  philosophy  of  its 
own,  a  divine  philosophy,  the  mistress  and  queen, 
as  it  was  of  old  held  to  be,  of  all  the  sciences,  a 
science  which  treats  of  God  in  His  relations  to 
man,  and  of  man  in  his  relations  to  God  and  to  his 
fellow-men,  which  embraces  the  whole  circle  of 
man's  moral  being  in  this  life,  and  which  avails 
itself  unreservedly  of  all  the  helps  which  God 
has  given  it  for  raising  human  hopes  and  fears 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  iig 


to  the  contemplation  of  a  life  beyond.  But  is 
this  Church  of  the  future,  of  which  we  speak, 
to  be  a  new  Church  ?  This  cannot  be,  if,  as  we 
believe,  the  Church  is  as  old  as  the  Gospel.  Let 
us  see.  This  Church,  as  its  name  implies,  must 
be  an  organized  body  of  believers  in  its  truths, 
worshipping  one  God  through  one  Saviour  in 
one  appointed  way.  It  has  its  divinely-ordained 
Sacraments  for  initiation  into  its  membership, 
and  for  the  continuation  and  increase  of  the 
spiritual  blessings  which  it  prizes  and  seeks  to 
disseminate.  Such  a  body  will  always  be  more 
or  less  obnoxious  to  all  who  think  they  can 
safely  control  the  world  on  other  principles  than 
those  which  it  upholds.  Let  us  briefly  sketch 
some  of  the  characteristics  by  which  this  Church 
of  the  future  will  be  distinguished. 

First,  it  will  hold  fast  the  faith  set  forth  in  the 
Bible,  and  will  never  be  weary  of  turning  to  the 
Bible  as  the  basis  on  which  its  whole  system 
is  built,  and  by  which  whatever  it  teaches  must 
be  tested.  It  will  not  plunge  into  vain  discus- 
sions as  to  the  precise  mode  and  limits  of  the 


I  20     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[V. 


inspiration  of  the  writers  of  the  Sacred  Books. 
It  will,  I  think,  follow  the  wise  caution  of  the 
Thirty- Nine  Articles.  They  give  to  the  Bible 
the  name  of  "Holy  Scripture"  and  "God's 
Word  written,"  and  assert  that  "  it  containeth 
all  things  necessary  to  salvation,  so  that  what- 
soever is  not  read  therein  nor  may  be  proved 
thereby  is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man  that 
it  should  be  believed  as  an  article  of  the  faith, 
or  be  thought  requisite  or  necessary  to  salva- 
tion." Moreover,  they  declare  that  "it  is  not 
lawful  for  the  Church  to  ordain  anything  that 
is  contrary  to  God's  Word  written,  or  besides  the 
same  ....  to  enforce  anything  to  be  believed 
for  necessity  of  salvation."  They  declare  that 
the  most  authoritative  general  councils  must 
show  their  decrees  as  to  what  is  necessary  to 
salvation  to  be  taken  out  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Yet  these  articles  carefully  abstain  from  any 
minute  distinctions  as  to  what  inspiration  is — 
how  far  it  may  be  verbal  or  has  only  to  do  with 
the  general  sense  and  fully-explained  teaching 
of  the  sacred  writers.  They  throw  no  discourage- 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  12  1 

meat  in  the  way  of  the  most  rigid  criticism  of  the 
Sacred  Books  ;  they  set  forth,  indeed,  that 
these  Books  must  ever  maintain  their  place  as 
tests  of  truth;  but,  as  their  meaning  must  be 
arrived  at  by  the  reverent  use  of  an  enlightened 
reason,  they  do  not  put  up  the  Bible  as  the 
antagonist,  but  as  the  guiding  help  of  man's 
reason.  How  far  questions  of  physical  science, 
or  other  matters  quite  irrelevant  to  the  prin- 
ciples by  which  the  human  soul  lives,  have 
any  place  in  the  revelation  which  the  Bible 
contains,  the  Articles  do  not  consider.  They 
remind  Christians  that  these  sacred  Books  are 
in  their  hands  ;  that  the  Church  has  guarded 
them  carefully  as  its  most  sacred  deposit 
through  the  centuries  ;  and  that  they  have 
not  had  their  high  place  assigned  to  them 
without  a'  very  careful  examination  of  their 
claim  to  be  retained  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  many  apocryphal  books  have  been  ex- 
cluded from  the  canon.  With  respect  to  the 
Old  Testament,  they  tell  us  to  study  it 
as  the  faithful  Jews  of  old    studied    it— not 


122     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


looking  in  its  pages  for  mere  transitory 
promises,  but  regarding  it  as  the  gradual 
dawning  of  the  light  which  was  to  burn  with 
its  full  brightness  when  Messiah  came.  This 
sacred  character  of  the  Old  Testament  stands 
out  above  all  criticism  of  its  details.  We  are 
to  read  all  the  sacred  records  as  intelligent 
men,  with  a  full  right  to  judge  of  their 
meaning  by  all  helps  which  an  enlightened 
reason,  and  an  enlarged  observation  and  ex- 
perience, and  the  judgment  of  the  wise  and 
good  of  past  and  present  times  may  place 
within  our  reach.  But  over  all  these  records 
there  rise  the  sacred  lessons  they  contain,  in- 
telligible to  the  least-instructed  human  soul, 
speaking  of  God's  love  and  of  His  hatred  of 
sin,  and  of  the  promises  which  He  keeps  in 
store  for  those  who  are  faithful  to  Him. 

Secondly,  does  this  exaltation  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture as  the  guide  supersede  all  claims  of  au- 
thority .>  Certainly  not.  Authority  is  of  two 
kinds.  Every  Church  must  have  absolute 
authority  to  lay  down  its  form  of  discipline. 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  123 


It  will  act  wisely,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
precepts  of  its  Master,  if  it  directs  its  attention 
as  little  as  possible  to  the  mere  formal,  as 
opposed  to  the  more  spiritual,  part  of  our 
religion.  But  forms  it  must  have  for  express- 
ing its  worship  and  its  belief  in  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  Christian  faith.  If  these  forms 
were  entirely  given  up  there  would  be  no  out- 
ward cohesion,  and,  upon  the  whole,  experience 
teaches  that  outward  cohesion  is  very  useful, 
if  not  absolutely  necessary,  to  keep  men  one 
in  action  and  in  heart.  But  besides  this  abso- 
lute authority,  no  Church,  as  no  philosophy, 
can  dispense  with  that  argument  from  authority 
which,  as  I  have  hinted  before,  the  decisions 
of  the  wise  and  good  have  ever  been  held  to 
claim  with  right  in  the  domain  of  moral  and  of 
spiritual  truth.  The  merest  human  philosophy, 
of  course,  acknowledges  such  a  claim  of  au- 
thority even  in  that  lower  range  of  subjects 
of  which  it  treats  ;  still  more  the  Divine  philo- 
sophy in  its  higher  regions.  The  Church,  then, 
will  never  hesitate  to  give  full  weight  to  the 


124  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


opinions  of  the  wise  and  good,  helped,  as  it 
beh'eves  them  to  be,  in  their  conclusions  by  the 
Spirit  of  God.  It  will  not  bow  to  them  with 
any  servile  or  pretended  acceptance  of  their 
infallibility,  but  it  will  listen  to  them  reverently 
and  give  them  their  full  weight.  Seeking  our- 
selves to  be  guided  in  our  study  of  Scripture 
by  the  Good  Spirit  of  God,  we  shall  gladly 
acknowledge  the  due  authority  of  the  opinions 
of  all  who  have  been  led  by  the  same  Spirit. 

Thirdly,  the  Church,  if  true  to  its  sacred 
mission,  will  ever  be  on  its  guard  against  any 
lowering  of  its  standard  as  to  what  is  sin. 
Here,  I  fear,  is  a  dangerous  tendency  of  the 
age  we  live  in — to  regard  sin  rather  as  a  mis- 
fortune or  a  mistake  than  a  fault  and  cor- 
ruption. No  one  can  object  to  the  generous 
impulse  which  leads  us  to  make  due  allowance 
for  those  who  grow  up,  through  no  fault  of 
their  own,  under  unfavourable  influences ;  and 
a  merciful  God,  no  doubt,  considers  and  makes 
due  allowance  for  the  inevitable  disadvantages 
under  which  so  many  human  souls  are  reared. 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  125 


But  still,  sin  is  sin,  and  right  is  right,  and  the 
true  Church  of  God  never  falters  in  its  con- 
demnation of  the  one,  and  its  upholding  of  the 
other.  It  is  its  special  business  to  form  and 
maintain  an  elevated  public  opinion,  based  on 
the  standard  of  the  Word  of  God.  And  if  the 
Church  must  thus  maintain  the  exceeding  sin- 
fulness of  sin,  it  will  never  swerve  from  pointing 
to  the  only  true  remedy.  Captious  discussions 
may  be  raised  as  to  the  exact  meaning  and 
logical  definition  of  the  Atonement,  and  the 
Church  in  all  ages  has  contained  within  its 
bosom  men  who  have  not  thought  exactly  alike 
on  this  matter.  But  that  the  death  of  Christ 
upon  the  cross  brought  God  and  man  together, 
that  His  blood  washes  away  the  stain  of  sin — 
in  what  mysterious  way  we  know  not — that 
the  soul  which  feels  itself  by  nature  estranged 
from  God — and  which  in  all  pagan  and  mere 
human  systems  is  vainly  striving  to  approach 
Him,  and  is  often  found  striving  to  approach 
Him  through  some  strange  rites  of  immolation 
— finds  in  the  doctrine  of  this  one  great  Sacrifice 


126    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


a  peace  and  a  sense  of  nearness  to  the  Ever- 
lasting Father  which  it  sought  hopelessly  else- 
where— this  doctrine  the  Church  will  never 
part  with  while  the  world  contains  sinners  who 
have  souls  to  be  saved. 

Fourthly,  a  true  estimate  of  human  nature 
will  ever  point  to  some  strange  failure  from  a 
high  original,  as  set  forth  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Fall.  No  account  of  the  degenerating 
tendencies  of  bad  example  will  be  sufficient  to 
explain  this.  There  is  something  radically 
wrong,  and  that  in  a  being  who  bears  upon 
him  plain  marks  of  having  been  destined  to 
achieve  a  high  ideal.  The  doctrine  of  original 
sin  will  approve  itself  to  the  most  careful  exami- 
nation of  human  nature  as  it  is.  We  shall 
find  it  impossible  to  account  otherwise  for  man's 
tendency  to  a  rapid  degeneracy  under  unfavour- 
able circumstances,  and  for  the  perhaps  still 
more  alarming  fact  that,  even  under  the  most 
favourable  circumstances,  evil  desires  and  pro- 
pensities are  for  ever  cropping  up  in  the  mind 
even  of  the  most  self  restrained.     And  this 


v.]  ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.  127 


doctrine  of  man's  inherent  weakness  will  ever 
point  to  the  necessity  of  a  prevenient  and  sus- 
taining grace  which,  through  the  Holy  Spirit's 
working,  is  mercifully  sent  to  help  and  guide 
those  who  would  otherwise  be  wandering. 

Fifthly.  To  the  doctrines,  then,  of  the 
Fatherhood  of  God,  and  of  the  loving  sym- 
pathy of  the  Eternal  Son,  shown  in  His  death 
as  a  sacrifice,  and  in  His  intercession  and 
present  aid  as  our  Mediator,  the  Church 
necessarily  adds  the  doctrine  of  the  aid  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  when  it  reverently 
sets  side  by  side  all  that  the  Bible  teaches 
on  these  three  great  subjects,  and  weighs  them 
in  its  speculations  on  the  nature  of  the  Eternal, 
it  acquiesces  in  those  expressions  of  the  in- 
effable mystery  of  the  nature  of  the  Godhead 
which  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  old  creeds, 
asserting  the  Godhead,  the  personality,  and 
yet  the  mysterious  union,  of  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost. 

Sixthly,  as  to  the  outward  forms  by  which 
this     Church   of    Christ    will    maintain  the 


128     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


doctrines  it  upholds.  Some  of  these  forms  are 
Divine,  and,  therefore,  necessarily  of  universal 
obh'gation.  Some  have  a  lower  origin  and 
stringency.  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that 
bclicveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved." 
"  Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  If  Christ  spake  these  words, 
baptism  is  a  Divine  appointment,  and  man 
cannot  dispen.se  with  it.  So  also  is  the  Lord's 
Supper.  "  Take,  eat.  This  is  My  body  which 
is  broken  for  you,  this  do  in  remembrance  of 
Me."  "  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  My 
blood,  this  do  ye  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  re- 
membrance of  Me."  "As  often  as  ye  eat  this 
bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the 
Lord's  death  till  He  come."  The  Church  of 
Christ,  then,  without  the  Sacraments,  would  be 
setting  itself  up  against  the  Word  of  Christ. 
But  what  a  weariness  to  the  devout  soul  are 


ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING. 


129 


the  tomes  which  have  been  written  on  the  nice 
questions  as  to  how  through  these  sacraments 
the  Grace  of  God  acts.  O,  friends,  it  is  a  simple 
faith  in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  and  a 
simple  joyful  appreciation  of  the  means  ordained 
in  Holy  Scripture,  whereby  the  Almighty  God- 
head helps  and  elevates  our  souls,  that  is  of 
real  value  in  the  sight  of  Christ.  And  I  do 
hope  some  here  present  may  live  to  see  a  time 
when  this  simplicity  may  be  more  prized,  and 
the  Church  may  be  less  vexed  by  anxious 
and  profitless  questionings.  The  Church  of 
England  is  very  simple,  though  not  undog- 
matic,  in  its  statements  on  these  matters. 
Therefore,  it  is  very  wide  in  its  comprehension 
of  various  private  views  as  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  Sacraments,  and  in  this  peculiarity  it  keeps 
near  to  Holy  Scripture. 

The  clergy,  indeed,  are  not  entitled,  in  the'r 
arrangements  as  to  our  common  public  worship, 
to  obtrude  their  private  opinions  respecting 
such  doctrines  on  the  congregations  whose 
devotions  they  are  appointed  to  lead.  Every 

K 


1 30    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[V. 


Church  must  prescribe  a  liturgy  or  order  for 
its  administration  of  the  Sacraments,  and  insist 
that  within  certain  limits  a  uniformity  in  this 
liturgy  be  observed,  so  that  it  neither  be  added 
to  nor  detracted  from,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Bishops,  as  the  executive  of  the  Church, 
to  see  that  these  limits  be  not  transgressed  to 
the  reasonable  annoyance  and  scandal  of  any 
of  those  who  join  with  the  clergy  in  public 
worship.  The  rulers  of  the  Church,  then,  are 
bound  to  see  that  nothing  is  introduced  into 
its  ritual  which  may  reasonably  be  supposed 
to  proclaim  disloyalty  to  the  general  principles 
of  its  teaching.  And  if  the  clergy  be  allowed 
more  freely  to  assert  their  own  private  opinions 
through  their  teaching  in  the  pulpit,  than 
through  the  symbols  of  public  worship,  there 
is  no  inconsistency  here,  provided  care  be  taken 
to  prevent  any  man  from  contradicting  any 
statement  of  the  formularies  ;  for  it  is  of  the 
very  es.sence  of  addresses  from  the  pulpit  that 
they  profess  to  be  appeals  to  the  reason  and 
the   conscience,    and    that  no  hearer  in  an 


/TS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING. 


intelligent  age  is  bound  to  accept  without 
questioning  the  statements  thus  propounded  ; 
whereas  in  the  common  worship  every  man 
must  take  a  part,  and  it  is  unfair,  beyond  the 
Church's  warrant,  to  make  him  join  in  acts 
which  he  believes  his  Church  has  not  sanc- 
tioned. 

But  no  one  will  deny  that  besides  the 
Sacraments  there  must  be  other  outward  forms 
which  the  Church  of  Christ  must  maintain. 
"  Go  ye  and  preach  the  Gospel."  Here  is  the 
Divine  warrant  for  the  ordinance  of  preaching. 
No  Church  neglects  it  without  inflicting  grievous 
loss.  A  philosophy  which  never  proclaimed 
its  doctrines  would  dwindle  and  decay.  A 
Church  whose  ministers  are  dumb  dogs  is  unlike 
the  Church  of  the  Apostles.  The  preaching 
and  the  continual  reverent  reading  of  Holy 
Scripture  for  edification  has,  ever  since  the 
Reformation,  been  a  marked  characteristic  of 
the  Church  of  England.  And  if,  in  past  times, 
we  did  not  sufficiently  avail  ourselves  of  the 
invitation  to  speak  to  one  another  and  to  God 

K  2 


132    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  this 
want  has  been  distinctly  felt  and  recognized, 
and  great  efforts  have  been  already  made  and 
are  making  to  supply  the  need.  The  chief  of 
all  Christian  ordinances  is  prayer  to  the  Father 
through  the  Son,  under  the  controlling  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Prayer,  and  praise, 
and  preaching,  and  the  reading  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture are  ordinances  directly  prescribed  by 
God.  Other  ordinances  are  the  Church's  time- 
honoured  forms  for  common  prayer,  for  edi- 
fication, and  for  discipline  or  regimeut.  The 
Church  will  hold  fast  by  these,  both  because 
they  are  old— some  of  them  Apostolic, — and 
because  they  are  good.  Under  this  head  will 
fall  its  confirmations,  its  formal  declarations 
of  God's  readiness  to  absolve,  its  three-fold 
scheme  of  government  by  bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons.  We  shall  not  think  lightly  of  what 
connects  us,  in  outward  form,  and  in  spiritual 
influence,  with  the  times  when  the  Church 
emerged  fresh  from  the  hands  of  the  first 
followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus.    We  shall,  indeed, 


V.  ]  ITS  DOGMA  TIC  TEA  CHING.        1 3  3 


be  careful,  as  our  article  directs,  to  note  that 
these  time-honoured  forms,  however  instinct 
with  spiritual  life,  are  not  of  the  nature  of  the 
Sacraments  ;  but  we  shall  rejoice  through  them 
as  through  the  Sacraments,  to  connect  our- 
selves with  the  good  and  holy  servants  of  Christ 
who  have  maintained  the  light  of  His  Gospel 
even  in   the   darkest  ages. 

But,  some  one  may  say.  This  Church  which 
you  are  setting  before  us  for  the  new  age, 
with  its  doctrines  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  of 
the  corruption  of  human  nature,  and  the  con- 
sequent impossibility  of  man  being  justified, 
except  through  the  merits  and  death 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  maintaining  the 
old  Sacraments  and  the  old  ordinances  and 
forms,  is  nothing  else  than  the  old  Church 
of  England.  It  makes,  in  these  respects, 
common  cause  with  the  old  superstitious 
Church  of  Rome  and  the  old  churches  of 
the  East,  and  also  with  some,  at  least,  of 
the  narrow  systems  whicli  have  shackled  the 
freedom   of  Christ's   teaching,  by  the  chains 


1 34    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [v. 


of  a  too  rigid  logic  welded  remorselessly  by 
sectarian  zeal.  True,  that  this  Church  is,  after 
all,  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  old  Church 
of  England,  freed  from  certain  modern  ac- 
cretions on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other, 
which  had  grown  round  its  authoritative  creed 
in  times  of  deadness  or  unnatural  activity. 
Modern  philosophers  thought  indeed  that  they 
had  made  some  rents  in  the  received  system. 
These  have  been  filled  up  and  repaired.  I 
grant  that  this,  which  I  have  here  presented, 
I's  the  old  Church  of  Parker  and  Hooker,  per- 
haps here  and  there  having  lost  some  few  of 
the  peculiar,  unimportant  features  which  at- 
tached to  it  from  the  character  and  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  age  in  which  these  divines 
lived,  from  the  temporary  controversies  which 
raged  around  them,  or  the  temporary  dis- 
couragement or  patronage  which  alarmed  or 
upheld  them.  I  do  not  mean  that  these  men 
foresaw  the  difficulties  which  would  be  sug- 
gested after  their  time  by  modern  thought  ; 
but  is  it  not  remarkable  that  those  who  wrote 


ITS  DOGMATIC  TEACHING. 


our  formularies,  being,  after  all,  but  human 
compilers,  were  guided  not  to  embody  in  them 
statements  which  the  advancement  of  know- 
ledge would  refute  ?  This  arose,  I  think,  from 
their  wisely  determining,  under  God's  good 
guidance,  and  in  imitation  of  the  wisdom  of 
the  early  creeds,  to  confine  themselves  as  much 
as  possible,  in  their  expositions  of  the  terms 
of  communion,  to  the  great  central,  immutable. 
Divinely  communicated  truths,  passing  in 
silence,  as  much  "as  the  exigencies  of  their 
age  allowed,  through  the  dangerous  field  of 
shifting  human  opinion.  This,  then,  I  maintain, 
is  the  same  reformed  old  Church  of  England 
- — Catholic  in  its  connection  with  antiquity  and 
with  the  Universal  Church,  Protestant  in  its 
opposit'on  to  the  peculiar  encroachments  of  the 
Roman  See.  We  think  none  the  worse  of  it 
because  it  is  the  old  English  Church  which  has 
been  tried  through  severe  struggles  ;  which  for 
three  hundred  years  and  more  has  been  iden- 
tified in  its  present  form  with  the  national  life  ; 
which  neither  in  our  fathers'  time  nor  in  ours 


1 36     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[V. 


has  been  the  antagonist,  but  always  the  ally 
and  patron  of  learning,  of  science,  and  of  the 
nation's  growing  intelligence.  It  may  have 
learned  a  fresher  and  fuller  toleration  than 
was  possible  in  the  midst  of  its  old  struggles  ; 
but  it  is  the  same  Church  still,  while  God's 
Providence  has  placed  it  in  a  peculiar  posi- 
tion for  rallying  round  it  both  the  lovers  of 
antiquity  and  those  who  are  imbued  with  a 
searching  spirit  of  inquiry ;  while  the  old 
Churches  of  East  and  West  cannot  refuse  it 
some  reverence,  and  the  newer  sects  feel  that 
it  is  a  bulwark  against  the  return  to  exploded 
superstitions  ;  it  seems  peculiarly  pointed  out 
as  a  centre  of  union  for  the  long-divided  faith 
of  Christians.  In  it  we  hold  that  Christen- 
dom has  the  surest  bulwark,  both  of  sound 
faith  and  sound  morals,  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  a  threatening  infidelity. 

Let  me,  in  conclusion,  recall  what  is  told 
us  of  a  remarkable  man,  who  went  to  his 
rest  in  Christ  some  ten  years  ago,  and  whose 
letters  have  lately  been  published;  the  friend 


77-^  DOGMATIC  TEACHING.         1 37 


and  in  some  sort  the  guide  of  Frederick 
Maurice.  He  had  long  been  esteemed  a 
prophet  among  the  disciples  of  an  advanced 
school  of  Christian  thought.  In  the  midst  of 
his  speculations  he  had  certainly  lived  a 
saintly  life.  It  is  said  that  as  death  drew 
near,  in  his  old  age,  during  the  last  few  days, 
all  the  abstruse  questions  which  had  troubled 
him  in  life  disappeared.  He  felt  that  it  was 
on  the  old  familiar  truths  of  his  boyhood  that 
he  had  now  a  firm  grasp.  On  these  he  dwelt 
as  life  ebbed.  It  was  leaning  on  these  that 
he  entered  into  the  presence  of  the  Saviour 
he  had  ever  loved.  A  lesson  here  surely 
both  for  individual  Christians  and  for 
Churches.  It  has  been  noted  also  that  the 
latter  sermons  preached  by  Dr.  Arnold,  be- 
fore he  was  prematurely  taken  from  the 
Church  on  earth  in  his  forty-seventh  year, 
to  the  sorrow  of  all  good  men,  are  marked 
by  an  earnest  clinging  to  the  great  .central 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  a  vivid  inculca- 
tion of  them  in    their   fulness   on  the  souls 


138     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  \\ 


for  whose  spiritual  good  he  yearned.  He 
was  a  man  fearless  in  speculation,  and  had 
known  many  harassing  doubts  ;  but  the 
deepening  experience  of  a  devout  life,  and 
his  ripening  conviction  of  the  realities  of 
that  eternal  world  which,  though  imperceptibly, 
he  was  nearing,  had  on  his  noble  spirit  that 
same  effect  which  life's  trials  and  the  felt 
nearness  of  God  may  be  expected  to  produce 
on  all  the  most  earnest  truth-loving  souls. 
So  it  seems  to  me  that  the  Church  of  Christ, 
amid  distracting  speculations  and  the  growth 
around  it  of  dangerous  error,  will  learn  to 
cling  only  the  more  closely  to  the  great  central 
truths  of  the  Gospel  of  its  salvation.' 


VI. 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS  FOR  ITS  WORK. 

(^Delivered  at  Maidstone,  on   September  2W1,  to  the 
Rural  Deanery  of  Sutton.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren,  and  my 
Brethren  the  Churchwardens,  —  The 
purport  of  this  last  address  of  my  present 
visitation  is  to  set  forth  certain  practical  matters 
in  which  I  believe  we,  in  our  separate  spheres^ 
may  best  promote  the  usefulness  of  that  great 
and  venerable  institution  of  which  we  are 
members.  We  have  received  the  Church  of 
England  from  our  fathers:  we  trust  by  God's 
blessing  to  hand  it  down  unimpaired  to  our 
successors,  and  it  is  our  hearts'  desire  to  make 
it  in  every  way  subserve  the  great  purpose  of 


I40     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[VI. 


advancing  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  Church 
consists  of  its  clergy  and  its  laity,  and  on  both, 
in  the  sphere  of  usefulness  proper  to  each,  great 
duties  devolve.  No  layman,  as  no  clergyman, 
can,  in  any  position  of  life  in  which  he  is  placed, 
divest  himself  of  his  relations  to  the  Church 
of  Christ  of  which  he  is  a  member.  As  citizens 
we  must  act  in  all  things  according  to  our 
highest  convictions  ;  so  also  as  men  of  business, 
and  in  the  intercourse  of  society.  The  Gospel 
has  come  into  the  world  for  the  express  purpose 
of  raising  the  standard  of  our  thoughts  and 
actions,  and  each  failure  by  which  we  sink 
below  the  standard  is  a  forgetfulness  of  our 
allegiance  to  Christ.  It  is  one  of  the  chief 
characteristics  of  the  Church  of  England  that 
it  insists  primarily  and  chiefly  on  those  great 
doctrines  which  are  common  to  the  whole 
Christian  world.  I  am  not,  therefore,  speaking 
here  of  the  distinctions  which  separate  one 
branch  of  Christ's  universal  Church  from 
another ;  but  I  am  protesting  against  a  lax 
view,  not  uncommon  in  the  present  day,  which 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


141 


would  tell  men  that,  though  they  are  Christians, 
they  may  throw  their  Christianity  aside  when 
they  enter  on  their  civil  duties,  and  be  content 
in  their  relations  to  the  State  and  in  their 
business  transactions  to  be  heathens,  while  on 
_  Sundays  and  in  the  Church  they  make  pro- 
fession of  Christianity.  Such  attempts  remind 
one  of  the  old  story  of  the  Elector- Archbishop 
on  the  Rhine  who,  when  reproached  with  the 
profancness  of  his  language,  said  that  he  was 
speaking  only  as  a  temporal  prince,  and  that 
he  would  speak  very  differently  in  his  character 
as  Archbishop.  The  answer  was,  "When  the 
Elector  goes  to  his  place  of  punishment  for  his 
profanity,  how  will  the  Archbishop  separate 
himself  from  his  company?"  A  Christian 
takes  his  Christianity  with  him,  for  better  or 
for  worse,  in  all  conditions  of  life.  In  every 
relation  in  which  he  can  possibly  stand,  it  is 
inseparable  from  him  ;  it  is  part  of  himself,  if 
he  has  in  truth  any  real  connexion  with  it. 
Modern  theories  of  the  isolation  of  our  Christi- 
anity from  the  living,  breathing,  acting  life 


142     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


which  environs  us  every  day  in  a  Christian 
State  are  a  delusion.  It  is  high  time  that 
men  should  make  up  their  minds  whether  or 
not  they  are  ready,  not  only  to  make  their  bow 
to  Christianity  on  certain  stated  occasions,  but 
to  let  it  be  avowedly  the  guide  and  motive 
power  of  all  their  life. 

And  if  this  applies  to  all  the  laity,  I  am  right, 
I  think,  especially  to  urge  it  upon  you  who, 
holding  those  lay  offices  which  our  own  branch 
of  the  Church  maintains  in  every  parish,  have 
a  sort  of  mixed  character  in  your  near  relations 
to  the  clergy.  If  even  the  ordinary  citizen  in 
such  a  nation  as  ours  cannot  separate  his 
secular  from  his  distinctly  religious  duties,  this 
applies  with  increased  force  to  all  who  hold 
secular  or  semi-secular  offices  in  the  direct 
service  of  the  Church.  It  is  very  satisfactory, 
then,  to  observe  how  the  office  of  churchwarden 
is  each  year  more  prized  in  its  true  character, 
and  that,  too,  at  a  time  when  its  duties  have 
become  much  more  difficult  than  they  were, 
and  when  the  patronage  and  other  influence 


VI.]  PRACTICAL  COUNSELS.  143 


that  formerly  attached  to  it  has,  by  legislative 
enactment,  been  greatly  diminished.  I  am 
truly  thank Tul  to  observe  at  each  of  my  places 
of  visitation  how  many  churchwardens  come 
forward  to  join  their  brethren  of  the  clergy  in 
the  Holy  Communion.  This  is,  I  trust,  a  sign 
of  the  growing  appreciation  of  the  true  im- 
portance and  sacred  character  of  their  official 
duties,  and  also,  indirectly,  of  a  growing  appre- 
ciation of  that  more  widely-reaching  truth  of 
which  we  have  been  speaking  —  that  every 
citizen  in  England  has  his  religious  as  well 
as  his  secular  duties,  and  that  the  two  are 
indissolubly  connected. 

I  will  here  mention,  by  the  way,  that  a  clergy- 
man who  is  able  to  work  harmoniously  with 
his  churchwardens  will  certainly  find  his  burdens 
thereby  greatly  lightened,  and  if,  here  and  there, 
he  feels  that  their  views  differ  from  his  own, 
and  act  as  a  check  on  what  he  desires  to 
introduce  as  a  salutary  improvement,  it  will 
be  well  for  him  to  remember  that  they  have 
better  opportunities  than  himself  of  knowing 


144    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 

the  feelings  of  that  section  of  the  laity  among 
whom  they  move,  and  that,  -even  if  at  times  they 
are  unduly  obstructive,  not  much  is  to  be  done 
by  a  rude  over-riding  of  his  peoples  prejudices. 
More  will  be  gained  by  conciliatory  attempts  to 
settle  differences   through   kindly  intercourse 
than  can  possibly  be  lost  by  the  interval  of  time 
required  for  effecting  such  conciliation.    I  must, 
indeed,  as  on  former  occasions,  urge  the  laity 
not  to  be  unreasonable  in  such  matters.    It  will 
never  do  to  stop  all  improvement  in  the  outward 
form  of  our  public  worship  till  such  time  as 
there  is  a  universal  consent  to  its  adoption,  and 
every  captious   objection   has   been  silenced. 
Those  of  us  whose  memories  go  back  fifty  years 
must  remember  how  dreary,  and  even  slovenly, 
were  of  old  the  arrangements  in  many  of  our 
parish  churches.    We  must  grant  that  it  has 
been  to  the  zeal  of  our  clergy,  stimulated  by 
the  good  taste  of  what  was  usually  but  a 
minority  of  their  parishioners,  that  changes,  now 
acknowledged  by  all  to  be  improvements,  were 
introduced.    The  point  I  urge  is  not  that  all 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


changes  are  to  be  stopped,  but  that  they  are 
only  to  be  introduced  on  mature  consideration 
when  sincerely  believed  to  be  improvements 
with  every  desire  and  effort  to  make  them 
acceptable  to  the  people,  and  with  dutiful 
reference,  when  any  dispute  arises,  to  the  con- 
stituted authority  as  the  rubric  directs.  But  I 
trust  and  believe  that  both  clergy  and  laity  are 
now  tired  of  foolish  discussions  on  such  subjects, 
and  that  the  minds  of  both  are  occupied  by 
weightier  matters. 

To  return,  may  I  not  trust,  in  spite  of  some 
signs  to  the  contrary,  that  in  the  majority,  both 
of  our  clergy  and  our  laity,  there  is  a  growing 
desire  to  recognise  religious  obligations  of  a 
simple  Christian  kind  in  all  the  duties  which 
devolve  on  them  in  the  Church  and  in  the 
State  ?  Let  us  pass  on  now  to  another  matter. 
In  such  an  age  as  this,  it  is  above  all  things 
necessary  that  the  standard  of  clerical  efficiency 
shall  be  maintained.  You  are  aware  that  over 
our  great  Universities,  in  the  course  of  the 
reforms  which  have  recently  been  introduced 

L 


146     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


into  them,  a  wave  of  free  thought  has  rolled,  ex- 
alting the  secular  above  the  ecclesiastical.  The 
result  of  this  is  that,  while  in  this  Diocese  at  least 
there  is  no  lack  of  good  and  efficient  candidates 
from  the  Universities,  the  number  of  young 
men  of  the  highest  University  distinction  at 
Oxford,  if  not  at  Cambridge,  who  seek  holy 
orders,  is,  for  the  present  at  least,  diminished. 
I  trust  that  this  state  of  things  will  not  last. 
I  believe  it  to  have  been  greatly  augmented 
by  the  fact  that  of  late  years  a  narrow  and 
somewhat  superstitious  form  of  the  Church's 
teaching  has  been  too  often  presented  as  part 
of  the  necessary  equipment  of  a  clergyman. 
And  greatly  have  the  truest  friends  of  the 
Church  longed  that  in  both  our  great  seats  of 
learning  the  Church  should  always  be  pre- 
sented to  the  rising  clergy  In  its  truest,  widest, 
and  most  intellectual  aspect.  We  have  no  fear 
that  the  purity  of  its  doctrine  will  suffer  from 
the  light  of  criticism  and  of  history.  May 
God's  blessing  be  with  all  who  are  striving, 
under  great  difficulties,  to  train  our  rising  youth 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


in  a  theology  worthy  of  our  Church's  mission,  as 
the  great  civilizing  influence  which  is  to  leaven 
the  thought  and  direct  the  energies  of  the 
coming  age. 

Moreover,  in  our  Universities  there  has  of 
late  been  a  great  change  in  respect  of  places 
of  emolument — that  is,  scholarships  and  fellow- 
ships now  thrown  open  to  competition ;  and 
certainly  there  never  was  a  time  when  it  could 
more  truly  be  said  that  a  career  is  open  to 
talent.  But  these  changes,  beneficial  as  they 
are,  have  certain  drawbacks  which  we  must 
face.  A  young  man  has  not  much  chance  in 
a  competitive  examination  unless  he  has  had  a 
careful  training  in  his  boyhood,  and  such  care- 
ful training  is  more  easily  procured  by  the 
wealthy  than  by  the  poor.  Again,  there  may 
be  many  young  men,  both  good  and  able,  well 
fitted  from  the  devotion  and  the  earnestness  of 
their  character,  and  from  other  gifts,  to  become 
valuable  ministers  of  Christ's  gospel,  who  have 
no  great  aptitude  for  the  particular  studies  as 
the  reward  for  which  scholarships  and  fellow- 

L  2 


148    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


ships  are  given.  Two  sets  of  persons,  there- 
fore, from  whom  we  might  expect  an  important 
addition  to  the  ranks  of  the  rising  clergy — 
namely,  clever  young  men  who  in  their  early 
boyhood  have  no  means,  and  young  men  who, 
without  being  remarkably  clever,  have  many 
solid  qualities  of  head  and  heart,  are  under 
peculiar  disadvantages,  and  require  our  aid. 
A  conviction  of  this  suggested,  at  one  of  our 
dioccsas  conferences,  the  establishment  of  a 
fund  ta  enable  young  men  of  promise,  desirous 
of  entering  the  ministry  of  our  Church,  to  be 
educated  at  our  Universities.^  It  is  one  of  the 
advantages  of  recent  changes  that  the  cost  of 
such  University  education,  for  those  who  choose 
to  exercise  a  wise  selt-denial,  and  to  accommo- 
date themselves  to  the  somewhat  straitened  cir- 
cumstances of  their  condition  in  life,  is  greatly 
reduced.  An  annual  gift  of  £']Q  or  £Zo  to 
any  promising  young  man,  whose  parents  can- 
not afford  the  expense  of  his  education,  will 
now  make  all  the  difference  as  to  the 
1  See  Appendix  C. 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


149 


possibility  of  his  being  trained  for  the  ministry 
at  the  Universities.  I  desire  anxiously  that  this 
effort  on  our  part  should  be  extended.  The 
poor  diocese  of  Bangor,  to  its  honour,  has  set 
a  good  example  here  to  all  England,  which  I 
trust  we  shall  not  be  slow  to  follow.  So  im- 
portant has  this  matter  appeared  that,  while 
the  Cathedral  Commission  has  been  dealing 
with  the  statutes  of  Canterbtiry  Cathedral,  it 
has  been  suggested  that  one  of  the  canons 
should  have  this  special  work  assigned  to  him 
— to  look  out  for  such  young  men  ;  to  raise  and 
administer  the  funds  necessary  for  their  educa- 
tion ;  and  to  superintend  and  guide  them  by 
advice  during  their  University  career. 

It  is  often  urged  as  a  disadvantage  of  our 
Church  system  that  young  men  are  ordained 
so  soon  after  leaving  the  University,  without 
a  peculiar  training  for  the  duties  of  the  pas- 
toral office.  Efforts,  as  you  are  aware,  are 
made  in  diocesan  theological  colleges  to 
obviate  this  omission.  I  have  always  been 
strongly  of  opinion  that  attendance  at  such 


X50     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


diocesan  colleges  ought  not,  as  a  rule,  to  be 
accepted  as  a  substitute  for  the  three  years 
of  University  life.  We  do  not  wish  our  future 
clergy  to  be  of  the  lower  Roman  Catholic 
priest  or  ordinary  Methodist  class-leader  or 
Scripture-reader  type.  We  do  not  wish  them 
to  receive  all  their  education  in  some  narrow 
school  where  one  theological  teacher  may  force 
all  the  instruction  given  into  one  groove.  I 
am  free  to  acknowledge  that  a  few  theological 
colleges  here  and  there,  ably  officered  and  well 
conducted,  may  be,  and  now  are,  a  useful  sup- 
plement to  the  University  course.  There  are 
young  men,  well  fitted  for  the  ministry,  who 
are  all  the  better  for  being  removed,  at  the  end 
of  their  three  years  of  University  life,  to  some 
new  sphere  in  a  quiet  place,  where  they  can 
apply  themselves  to  their  studies,  and  make 
preparation  for  their  life's  work,  at  a  distance 
from  old  associates.  But,  for  the  ordinary  body 
of  our  theological  students,  I  cannot  see  why 
the  Universities  themselves,  with  their  great 
endowments,    spacious   libraries,    and  learned 


VI] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


professors,  with  all  the  helps  to  devotion  which 
their  chapel  services  ought  to  afford,  may  not, 
in  the  midst  of  the  stir  of  life  which  is  their 
characteristic,  find  some  quiet  spots  where, 
under  due  rule  and  guidance,  the  future  clergy- 
man may,  better  than  elsewhere,  mature  both 
the  practical  and  the  theoretical  preparation 
for  his  life's  work. 

But  perhaps  it  more  concerns  us  to  turn  our 
thoughts  to  that  work  which  the  clergy  must 
continue  to  prosecute  for  themselves  when  they 
have  entered  on  their  several  spheres  of  pro- 
fessional labour.  If  it  be  true  of  all  men  and 
of  all  women  who  are  to  be  well  educated  that 
their  most  important  education  begins  when 
they  have  left  school  or  college,  this  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  clergy.  It  is  not  among  the 
poor  only  that  we  may  find  examples  of  persons 
well  taught  in  youth  whose  progress  stops  with 
their  youth,  and  for  whom,  therefore,  their 
early  training  proves  useless,  even  if  it  be  not 
forgotten.  The  bishops  do  not  fail  to  urge 
upon  the  candidates  for  deacons'  orders  that 


152     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


the  year  before  they  are  ordained  priests 
must  be  used  for  study  as  well  as  practical 
work.  These  deacons  have  reached  that  very 
time  of  life  at  which  the  importance  of  the 
books  they  read  opens  before  them  with  fresh 
attractions,  as  they  learn  more  clearly  to  under- 
stand by  practical  observation  their  bearing  on. 
man's  highest  interests.  Disquisitions  on  what 
before  seemed  abstract  points  of  theology  or 
philosophy  are  warmed  to  life  when  we  see 
how  such  questions  affect  human  souls.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  we  rigidly  uphold  a  high 
standard  in  the  examination  of  candidates  for 
priests'  orders.  I  fear  the  elder  clergy  some- 
times scarcely  appreciate  the  importance  of  our 
doing  so.  Excuses  are  made — "  I  hope  you 
will  not  be  hard  on  my  curate,  for  he  has  not 
had  a  moment  to  read,  he  has  been  entirely 
occupied  with  his  parish  work  ;  he  has  had  to 
preach  three  sermons  a  week."  I  answer, 
"  Alas  !  for  his  parishioners.'  How  can  an 
ordinary  inexperienced  young  man  of  three- 
and-twenty  evolve  each  week  out  of  his  own 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


brain  three  regular  addresses,  which  will  really 
reach  the  hearts  and  consciences,  instruct  the 
intellects,  and  guide  the  lives  of  his  people  ? 
Much  reading  will  not  make  a  man  a  good 
preacher,  still  less  will  little  reading  ;  but  this 
is  certain,  that  without  reading  the  man  is  sure 
to  be  an  indifferent,  uninstructive,  ineffective 
preacher.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  is  necessarily 
to  read  much,  but  he  must  read  really  and  to 
the  purpose,  for  however  short  a  time  each  day  ; 
note  what  he  reads,  and  accustom  himself  to 
carry  on  suggestive  trains  of  thought.  Granted 
that  the  best  preacher  is  the  man  who  touches 
the  heart  and  thus  influences  the  life  ;  granted 
that  many  gifts  of  voice,  manner,  tenderness  of 
sympathetic  feeling,  and  terseness  of  expression 
are  required,  if  the  words  of  the  wise  preacher 
are  to  be  as  goads  that  prick  the  conscience,  as 
nails  driven  home  to  the  heart  and  fastening 
themselves  in  the  memory ;  granted,  above  all, 
that  no  man  can  preach  effectively  what  he 
does  not  himself  feel  ;  granted  that  there  are 
many  gifts  besides  fulness  of  knowledge  which 


154    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


are  required  for  good  preaching;  yet  without 
knowledge,  in  this  age  especially,  the  sermon 
will  often  be  a  stumbling-block  to  some  in- 
telligent member  of  the  congregation.     It  is 
sometimes  said   to    be  a  virtue   carried  to 
a  fault  in  the  Church  of  England  that  all  our 
clergy  are  expected  to  be  preachers— a  fault 
the   very  opposite  of   that   into  which  the 
Oriental   Churches   have    fallen,  where  there 
is   very  little   preaching.     But   whether  this 
be  a  fault  or  not,  it  is  indispensable  to  our 
system— we   must    all   preach.     We  cannot, 
indeed,  all   be  great   preachers,   but   in  the 
highest  sense  we  can  all  be  good  preachers, 
if  we  give  of  our  best  with  great  care,  and 
try  to  overcome  every  obstacle  which  mars  our 
efficiency  ;  if  we  store  our  minds  as  well  as  we 
can,  and  speak  to  our  people  with  a  hearty 
love  of  souls.     Surely,  our  theme— the  life, 
and   death,  and    resurrection    of  Christ,  and 
His  ever-living  intercession,  and   the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit— must  inspire  us  with  earnest- 
ness when  we  speak  to  our  people  even  of 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


the  commonest  duties  of  their  every-day 
life. 

But  besides  the  spiritual  element  in  our 
preaching,  nothing  will  excuse  us  for  not  adding 
to  our  stores  all  we  can,  whereby  we  may  make 
our  instruction  more  attractive;  and  study 
will  be  required  that  we  may  gain  a  deeper 
and  fuller  understanding  of  Holy  Scripture, 
with  a  deeper  insight  into  the  way  in  which 
its  truths  and  precepts  have  moulded  the  lives 
of  God's  people,  under  varying  circumstances, 
in  all  ages.  A  wider  knowledge,  also,  of  the 
motives  of  action,  and  of  the  temptations  and 
trials  which  beset  human  life,  will  be  gained 
by  him  who  carefully  reads  history  and  bio- 
graphy, and  observes  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  own  personal  experience.  We  must  not 
make  mistakes  as  to  the  common  truths  of 
physical  science,  if  we  would  have  influence 
with  the  more  intelligent  even  of  the  mechanics 
who  are  brought  under  our  care.  We  must 
not  be  ignorant  of  the  works  of  the  great 
masters   in   poetry  and  oratory,  if  we  would 


156     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


know  and  reach  the  feeUngs  of  our  people ; 
and  it  would  be  preposterous  that  we  should 
seek  to  guide  any  but  the  most  ignorant, 
if  we  knew  nothing  of  the  currents  of  philo- 
sophical thought  which  are  bearing  on  many 
of  the  most  earnest  of  the  young  around  us 
to  conclusions  with  which  their  fathers  never 
troubled  themselves.  All  these  things  show 
that  the  wise  clergyman  will  strive,  as  far  as 
circumstances  allow,  to  make  himself,  in  Bacon's 
phrase,  a  "  full  man."  His  early  training  for 
his  profession  must  aim  at  this.  He  must 
aim  at  this  afterwards  in  the  higher  education 
he  continues  for  himself  throughout  all  his 
days.  No  amount  of  personal  goodness  will 
in  these  times  compensate  for  the  want  of  life 
and  energy,  if  he  allows  himself  to  settle  down 
into  a  mere  vegetative  state.  If  it  be  but  a 
few  souls  that  are  committed  to  him,  and  they, 
for  the  most  part,  uninstructed  people,  it  cer- 
tainly will  require  much  art  and  labour,  added 
to  earnestness  of  purpose,  to  enable  him  by  his 
d'scourses  to  penetrate  their  somewhat  dense 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


understandings.  And  tremendous  are  the  issues 
for  these  souls,  one  by  one,  which,  all  experience 
shows,  must  hang  upon  the  question  whether 
our  preaching  is  effective  to  reach  them  or  falls 
on  dull  ears.  I  advise  every  clergyman  in  a 
remote  country  place  to  be  very  careful  lest  he 
stagnate,  either  morally  or  intellectually.  If 
he  stagnates,  so  will  his  people.  I  advise  you 
in  such  districts  carefully  to  maintain  and  give 
life  to  those  meetings  for  mutual  discussion  and 
for  devotion  which  ought  to  be  common  in  all 
our  rural  deaneries.  Think  not  lightly  of  the 
task  committed  to  the  pastor  in  the  very 
smallest  parish.  It  is  a  blessed  work  to  which 
he  is  called  who  is  surrounded  by  a  flock  so 
manageable  that  he  can  know  every  family, 
and  make  himself  the  personal  guide  and 
friend  of  each  member  of  the  family,  from  the 
grandsire  to  the  little  children.  And  perhaps, 
measured  by  the  highest  standard,  the  life  of 
such  a  pastor,  who  is  earnest  and  real  in  his 
work,  is  among  the  happiest  which  this  world 
can  offer. 


158     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


Have  I  seemed  to  dwell  too  much  on  the 
intellectual  side  of  your  responsibilities  ?  It 
is  difficult,  in  our  profession  as  the  Chris- 
tian instructors  of  our  countrymen,  to  define 
sharply  the  limit  which  separates  our  intel- 
lectual from  our  devotional  sphere  of  work. 
Let  all  who  learn  and  all  you  who  have  to 
teach  be  sanctified  by  prayer,  by  thoughts  ot 
your  own  weakness  and  of  God's  willingness 
to  give  you  strength,  and  of  the  eternal  in- 
terests with  which  you  have  to  deal.  It  is 
impossible  here  to  go  into  all  the  practical 
matters  which  a  bishop  visiting  his  clergy 
might  wish  to  bring  before  them.  Your 
direct  private  pastoral  intercourse  with  the  old 
and  young  of  each  family  under  your  care, 
the  great  opportunities  for  making  and 
deepening  good  impressions  as  the  periodical 
confirmations  come  round,  an  opportunity 
similar  to  that  of  which  the  priests  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  make  so  effective  a  use  at 
the  time  of  the  first  Communion — these  and 
many  like  matters  must  now  be  passed  over. 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


Perhaps  the  defect  will  in  part  be  supplied 
by  the  suggestions  of  those  visitation  ques- 
tions which  I  have  issued. 

Before  I  close  I  shall  dwell  only  on  two 
other  points.  In  these  days,  when  so  much 
depends  upon  keeping  alive  the  good  social 
relations  which  bind  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
when  many  attempts  are,  unfortunately,  made 
to  set  class  against  class,  in  antagonism  to 
the  whole  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  you  will  do 
well  to  think  nothing  unimportant  which  will 
bring  you  into  friendly  relations  with  your 
people,  and  enable  you  to  help  the  poor 
among  them  to  raise  themselves  in  the  social 
scale.  You  will  not  forget  that  you  have  a 
heavenly  commission  and  a  heavenly  message 
to  deliver  both  to  rich  and  poor,  and  this 
thought  will  be  with  you  while  you  join  even 
in  their  amusements.  All  the  members  of 
your  flock  ought  to  be  made  to  feel  that  you 
take  a  real  interest  in  their  welfare.  And  as 
to  the  poor,  as  I  have  said,  their  efforts  to 
better  themselves,  the  best  means  of  directing 


l6o    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 

their   attention   to   habits   of  thrift  and  im- 
proved industrj^  their  plans  for  emigration,  or 
for  obtaining  better  wages   by  extending  at 
home  the  field  in  which  they  seek  for  work, 
—in  all  these  things  it  is  the  part  of  a  true 
Christian  pastor  to  aid  all  the  less  instructed 
of  his  people.     I  think  that  he  will  be  able 
in  many  ways  quietly  to  influence  both  rich 
and  poor  to  a  better  understanding  of  their 
dependence   one   on   the  other,  and  of  their 
reciprocal  duties  in  the  body  politic.     I  am 
not    urging    the    clergy  to   mix  themselves 
up  unduly  with  their  people's  secular  affairs, 
but  nothing  is  really  secular  which  promotes 
Christian  good  feeling  between  man  and  man, 
and  enables  duties  to  be  performed  as  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  Christ  which  might  other- 
wise have  been  neglected. 

There  is  still  one  other  special  domain  from 
which  I  trust  our  clergy  will  never  find  them- 
selves excluded-the  Christian  instruction  oi 
our  youth.  I  trust  that  our  present  direct 
influence  in  our  elementary  schools  may  long 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


i6i 


be  continued  to  us  ;  that  as  a  sacred  duty  you 
may  regard  it  as  part  of  your  daily  task  to 
visit  these  schools,  and  see  that  religious  in- 
struction is  properly  conducted  ;  that  you  may 
seek  out  your  pupil-teachers  and  other  advanced 
scholars  and  draw  them  closely  under  your 
personal  influence  and  instruction.  And  even 
if,  unfortunately,  here  and  there,  the  common 
schools  pass  from  under  your  direct  control,  I 
trust  that  this  will  but  make  you  redouble  your 
efforts  to  give  life  and  reality  to  some  well- 
regulated  system  at  fixed  hours,  when,  by  Sun- 
day-schools or  otherwise,  you  can  gather  the 
young  together  for  directly  religious  instruction. 
It  is  a  lamentable  consideration  that  England 
has  hitherto  been  more  backward  than  she 
ought  to  have  been  in  providing  the  blessings 
of  education  for  every  class  of  her  children. 
All  know  and  acknowledge  how  much  the 
clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  have  of  late 
done  in  this  great  work  ;  but  even  now  deplor- 
able instances  are  to  be  found  among  us  of 
children  growing  to  maturity  in  the  grossest 

M 


1 62     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vr. 
ignorance.    My  own  experience  as  the  head  of 
a  large  family  of  servants  is,  that  well-grou-n 
and  tolerably  intelhgent  lads  are  to  be  found  in 
some  country  parishes,  whose  shght  training  at 
scliool  Iias  never  given  them  any  real  knmv- 
ledge,  and  when  examined  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
or  nineteen  they  are  found  to  know  nothing.  You 
will  not  fail  to  satisfy  yourselves  that  the  least 
advanced,  as  well  as  the  cleverest  of  the  children 
in  your  schools,  are  really  profiting  by  the  in- 
struction placed  within  their  reach,  and,  more 
especially  with  respect  to  religious  instruction, 
that  what  they  are  taught  is  not  merely  formally 
accepted,   but   understood.     For   example,  I 
think  you  will  act  wisely  if  each  of  you,  in  your 
schools,  will  satisfy   yourselves  by  individual 
questioning  as  to  the  prayers  which  the  children 
offer  up  morning  and  evening  in  their  homes. 
A  child  trained  in  habits  of  prayer  may,  by  a 
quiet  example,  become  a  missionary  to  a  whole 
family  which  would  otherwise  live  without  God. 

Neither  will  you  leave  the  young  people  of 
your  flock  to  wander   unattended  when  they 


VI.] 


PRACTICAL  COUNSELS. 


163 


approach  the  dangerous  threshold  of  mature 
h'fe ;  then,  more  than  at  any  other  time,  they 
require  a  helping  hand.  Where  would  any  of 
us  clergy  be,  if,  at  that  raw  and  inexperienced 
age  at  which  we  left  school,  we  had  been 
plunged,  without  restraint  or  guidance,  into 
the  world's  temptations }  It  was  then  that  the 
discipline  and  regulations  of  our  colleges  be- 
came our  safeguards,  when,  if  left  to  ourselves, 
we  could  not  have  used  aright  the  liberty  which 
our  age  had  brought  us.  And  are  we  to  believe 
that  the  young  plough-boy,  artisan,  or  appren- 
tice is  more  able  to  guide  himself  than  the 
young  clergyman's  or  squire's  son  }  For  the 
less  refined,  it  must  be  remembered,  unprin- 
cipled men  have  provided  in  this  age  a 
complete  deluge  of  immoral  and  debasing 
literature,  which  will  sweep  away  all  the  pure 
instruction  they  have  received  in  childhood  if 
some  friend  be  not  at  hand  to  direct  them.  I 
am  sure  the  clergy  I  address  will  not  fail  to  give 
this  subject  their  most  serious  consideration. 
And  now  I  must  close  this  visitation — that 
RI  2 


164     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vi. 


part  of  it,  at  least,  which  is  formally  and 
publicly  conducted.  As  I  have  said  before, 
the  greater  part  of  the  practical  visitation  of 
the  diocese  is  connected  with  the  answers  to 
the  printed  questions  placed  in  your  hands 
which  you  have  now  returned  to  me  or  my 
officers.  By  these  I  expect  to  have  a  distinct 
view  of  the  position  of  each  parish  in  the 
diocese  brought  before  me,  and  I  shall  not  fail 
to  communicate  with  you  individually,  where 
necessary,  that  we  may  mutually  assist  each 
other  in  the  accomplishrnent  of  the  great  work 
committed  to  us.  It  must  be  quite  uncertain 
whether  I  shall  have  another  opportunity  of 
thus  meeting  the  whole  diocese  on  visitation 
— certainly  we  who  have  gathered  together 
this  year  can  never,  all  of  us,  meet  again. 
Also  since,  if  God  spares  my  life,  I  shall  soon 
enter  on  my  seventieth  year,  and  I  have  now 
almost  completed  the  twenty-fourth  year  of 
my  episcopate,  it  can  scarcely  be  expected 
that  even  if  life  and  health  are  spared  to  me 
to  enter  on  another  visitation,  I  shall  again  be 


VI.]  PRACTICAL  COUASELS.  165 

equal  to  the  labour  I  have  imposed  on  myself 
of  addressing  the  diocese  in  separate  charges 
at  so  many  different  stations.  I  have  been 
anxious,  therefore,  on  this  occasion  to  leave 
on  record  my  matured  conviction  of  the  nature 
of  certain  pressing  difficulties  which  in  th  s 
age,  in  my  judgment,  greatly  oppose  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  this  land  and, 
indeed,  throughout  the  civilized  world.  I  have 
been  anxious  also  to  set  before  you  somewhat 
in  detail  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  special 
mission  of  our  own  branch  of  Christ's  Church. 
May  God  enable  all  of  us,  clergy  and  laity, 
rightly  to  measure  our  dangers  and  to  do  our 
part  manfully  in  resisting  them. 

I  suppose  when  a  bishop  closes  his  charge 
he  always  feels  that  there  are  many  important 
matters  on  which  he  v/ould  wish  to  dwell,  which 
he  has  left  untouched.  It  is  so  certainly  to-day. 
I  will,  however,  only  once  again  call  upon  you 
all,  clergy  and  laity  alike,  to  lay  seriously  to 
heart  the  great  responsibility  of  our  position 
as  ministers  and  office-bearers  of  the  Church 


1 66     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[vr. 


of  Christ  established  in  this  realm.  In  crowded 
towns,  amid  the  multiplicity  of  pressing  cares, 
which  the  aggregation  of  human  beings  brings 
with  it,  in  lonely  rural  districts  where  the  very 
absence  of  such  peculiar  difficulties  brings  its 
own  temptations  and  trials,  you,  clergy  and 
laity  alike,  have  to  uphold  the  Church  of  Christ 
in  that  form  in  which  we  have  received  it  from 
our  fathers,  and  in  which  we  verily  believe  it 
is  well  fitted  to  resist  the  opposition  of  im- 
morality and  infidelity  and  dull  indifference. 
We  are  all  of  us  watchmen  and  stewards  in 
our  several  degrees,  each  with  our  separate 
work ;  God  give  us  grace  to  do  it.  To  the 
clergy  especially  I  would  say  in  closing  that 
I  well  know,  and  I  trust  shall  ever  sympathise 
with,  the  difficulties  that  beset  them.  As  years 
advance  I  trust  we  learn  to  know  each  other 
better,  and  more  fully  to  enter  into  each  other's 
feelings.  You  will  not  fail  to  pray  for  me,  and 
I  certainly  shall  pray  earnestly  for  the  clergy 
and  laity  of  this  diocese. 


VII. 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE 
CATHEDRAL  BODY. 

{Delivered  in  Canterbury  Cathedral,  on 
September  25//^.) 

My  Reverend  Brethren  and  other 
Members  of  the  Cathedral  Body— I 
appear  among  you  to-day  as  visitor  under 
somewhat  peculiar  circumstances.  You  are 
aware  that  it  has  seemed  good  to  Her  Majesty 
to  issue  a  commission  of  inquiry  into  the  condi- 
tion of  the  various  cathedral  bodies,  and  espe- 
cially to  call  the  attention  of  the  commissioners 
to  the  propriety  of  drawing  up  new  statutes  in 
lieu  of  any  which  may  have  become  obsolete 
or  unfitted  for  the  present  times  ;  and  you  are 


1 68     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vn. 
probably  aware  that  Her  Majesty  has  thought 
good  to  appoint  me  to  the  office  of  president^or 
chairman  of  this  Royal  commission.  Therefore, 
as  visitor  here  to-day,  some  may  expect  that  I 
sliould  throw  some  Hght  on  the  views  which  have 
occurred  to  the  commissioners  in  reference  to 
the  duties  which  Her  Majesty  has  devolved 
upon  them.     You  are  aware,  however,  that  the 
range  of  subjects  which  is  submitted  to  this 
commission  is  very  wide.    It  would  be  prema- 
ture and  improper  for  me  to  attempt  to  speak- 
in  the  name  of  my  brother  commissioners  on 
an  occasion  of  this  kind.     Of  course,  as  we 
have  taken  the  metropolitical  cathedral  as  the 
first  which  we  have  investigated,  it  will  not  be 
unnatural  that  I  should  give  expression,  in  the 
course  of  this  charge,  to  opinions  which  have 
been  floating  in  the  minds  of  the  commissioners. 
But  these  cannot  as  yet  be  supposed  to  have 
any  distinct  consistency. 

One  point  is  obvious,  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  commissioners  to  recommend  to  Her  Ma- 
jesty a  readjustmeut  of  the   statutes  of  the 


vn.]  ADDRESS.  1 69 

various  cathedrals,  and  I  think  I  shall  be  be- 
traying no  confidence  if  I  say  that  it  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  this  arrangement  with  reference 
to  the  statutes,  that  some  clause  shall  be  intro- 
duced into  them  which  shall  give  power  for 
altering  statutes  from  time  to  time,  under  the 
sanction  of  some  august  authority,  so  as  in  after 
times  to  adapt  the  arrangements  of  the  various 
catliedrals  to  changing  circumstances  in  every 
age.  Great  care,  of  course,  is  required  in  the 
alteration  of  ancient  statutes  which  have  come 
down  to  us  with  the  authority  of  so  long  a 
prescription  ;  and  great  care  will  be  wanted  in 
constructing  the  particular  statute  which  shall 
give  the  power  of  alteration  of  statutes  in  after 
times.  As  to  two  points,  then,  I  think  there  is 
no  doubt  :  that  we  are  likely  to  have  new 
statutes  suggested,  and  that  those  new  statutes 
will  contain  a  power  of  alteration. 

And  now  let  mc  proceed  more  distinctly  to 
my  duties  in  this  visitition.  A  visitation,  I 
presume,  is  intended  to  call  upon  all  of  us  to 
consider  how  far  wc  are  fulfilling  the  ideal  or 


I  70      THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE,  [vii. 


intention  with  which  our  great  institution  has 
been  founded.  I  say  we,  because  such  an  investi- 
gation, conducted  with  all  the  solemnity  which 
has  attended  our  gathering  at  this  time,  puts  cer- 
tain searching  questions  to  every  one  of  us,  from 
the  visitor,  to  whom  great  duties  are  confided, 
down  to  the  youngest  King's  scholar  or  chorister 
connected  with  this  great  cathedral.  We  have 
to  ask  ourselves  how  far,  by  God's  help,  we  are 
doing  our  several  duties  to  the  institution  of 
which  we  are  all  members.  It  may  be  that  it  is 
but  in  some  small  matters,  as  they  are  reckoned 
by  the  outside  world,  that  we  are  failing,  but  every 
failure,  either  in  the  old  or  the  young  among  us, 
ought  to  be  noted  at  such  a  solemn  time  as 
this,  and  noted  with  a  view  to  improvement  in 
the  future.  We  are  gathered  to-day  in  a  very 
venerable  fabric,  which  speaks  to  us  on  every 
side  of  the  passing  nature  of  those  opportunities 
which  are  given  to  us,  as  individuals,  for  the  ful- 
filment of  the  several  duties  committed  to  us  by 
God.  We  are  here  in  the  midst  of  the  monu- 
ments of  very  old  time,  amid  memorials  of  the 


vn.] 


ADDRESS. 


history-  of  our  country,  over  the  graves  of  great 
men  who  have  done  great  works  in  former  days. 
It  is  something  to  feel  ourselves,  from  the  oldest 
to  the  youngest,  united  in  this  great  institution, 
and,  we  hope,  animated  by  the  associations 
which  this  building  and  its  institutions  call  to 
our  minds. 

Now,  our  cathedral,  like  every  other  cathe- 
dral, has  its  own  peculiar  characteristics.  It 
would  be  a  great  mistake  if  those  who  desire  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  cathedrals  in  this 
country  were  to  treat  them  all  exactly  alike. 
A  list  of  them  lies  before  me,  in  which  some  one 
has  marked  those  which  belong  to  the  old,  and 
those  which  belong  to  the  new,  foundation  — a 
very  broad  distinction  indeed,  the  particulars  of 
which  I  need  not  enter  into  at  present.  But, 
besides  this  great  distinction  running  through 
them  all,  who,  for  example,  would  for  a  mo- 
ment consider  that  the  great  cathedral  of 
St.  Paul's,  in  the  centre  of  the  centre  of  the 
civilized  world,  was  like  the  cathedral  of  St. 
David's  on  the  rocks  of  Wales,  in  a  small  village 


172     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


consisting  of  a  few  farmhouses  ?  Who  would 
suppose  that  Durham,  with  its  magnificent 
endowments  and  its  great  University  under  the 
shadow  of  its  walls,  was  exactly  like,  let  us  say, 
Llandaff  ?  There  must  be  the  greatest  distinction 
between  the  different  cathedrals  ;  and  though  it 
is  perfectly  true  that  some  similar  principles  will 
be  found  to  pervade  them  all,  yet  he  would  be 
a  most  unwise  reformer  of  our  cathedral  bodies 
who  would  apply  to  them  any  stereotyped  sys- 
tem of  improvement,  which  might  be  extremely 
useful  for  one,  but  would  altogether  fail  of  any 
usefulness  for  another.  I  trust  that  any  such 
vain  attempt  will  be  avoided,  that  every  cathe- 
dral will  be  dealt  with  according  to  its  own 
particular  characteristics  and  the  circumstances 
that  ;  urround  it. 

When  I  say  that  a  visitation  calls  upon  us 
to  consider  the  ideal  of  our  cathedral  existence, 
this  may  be  understood  in  two  senses.  There 
is  the  old  ideal  which  existed  in  the  mind  of 
the  original  founders,  in  an  age  extremely  un- 
like  our  present   age,  and   in   very  different 


ADDRESS, 


circumstances  from  those  in  which  we  find 
ourselves.  One  of  the  difficulties  which  has 
beset  the  cathedral  bodies  in  late  times  has 
been  this,  that  they  have  not  been  able  dis- 
tinctly to  realise — and  it  is  impossible  to  realise 
— the  ideal  which  is  contained  in  their  ancient 
statutes,  because  the  whole  state  of  society, 
since  these  statutes  were  written,  has  entirely 
changed,  and  things,  which  were  admirably 
suited  for  the  days  when  cathedrals  were 
originally  founded,  have  altogether  ceased  to 
be  capable  of  being  applied  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  present  times.  And  what  has  been 
the  result  of  this There  may  have  been  no 
change  of  statutes  outwardly  ;  but  every  man 
of  intelligence  knows  that  the  greatest  of  all 
changes  are  those  which  take  place  while  out- 
wardly there  appears  to  be  no  change.  A 
man  lives,  say,  in  the  same  house,  surrounded 
by  many  of  the  same  outward  conveniences, 
and  even  by  the  same  faces,  from  childhood 
to  old  age,  but  the  man  is  changing  year  by 
year,  and  if  he  attempts  in  his  old  age,  or 


I  74     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 

in  the  vigour  of  Irs  manhood,  to  accommo- 
date himself  to  what  was  fit  for  his  childhood, 
he  may  fancy  to  himself  that  he  is  re- 
maining unchanged;  but  an  imperceptible 
change  has  been  going  on,  far  greater 
than  any  that  could  have  come  by  a  change 
of  outward  arrangement.  And  so,  I  think,  we 
shall  find,  as  of  the  Universities,  so  also  of  the 
cathedrals,  that  the  maintenance  of  old  statutes 
is  very  often  synonymous  with  a  departure  from 
their  spirit.  And  hence  there  has  grown  up  in 
every  old  society  such  as  this  a  number  oi 
traditionary  explanations  of  statutes  which  have 
really  set  them  aside.  Customs  have  come  to 
be  as  powerful  as  statutes— customs  about  which 
no  one  exactly  knows  when  they  sprang  into 
existence,  and  therefore,  from  their  venerable 
antiquity,  they  have  become  as  powerful  as  the 
statutes  which  virtually  they  have  set  aside. 
Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  wise  carefully  to 
look  through  our  old  statutes  and  to  reconsider 
our  old  customs,  not  with  the  view  of  setting 
aside  anything  in  them  which  is  excellent,  nor, 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


^75 


I  believ-e,  with  a  view  in  any  respect  to  violat'ng 
their  spirit,  but  of  seeing  that  the  letter  and 
the  spirit  more  completely  agree  than  they  do 
in  the  present  state  of  things.  We  are  to  look 
to  the  ideal  of  our  cathedral.  Are  we  to 
suppose  ourselves,  then,  in  the  days  in  which 
this  was  an  ancient  monastery,  going  back  to 
Norman  times,  or  even  beyond Or  are  we 
even  to  throw  ourselves  into  the  Reformation 
age,  when  our  monastery  changed  into  a 
cathedral  entrusted  to  secular  clergy;  or  are 
we,  as  living  men,  with  duties  committed  to 
us  b)'  tiic  Lord  Whom  we  serve,  to  face  manfully 
the  difficulties  that  are  around  us  in  the  age 
in  which  we  live,  and  to  endeavour  to  see  that 
these  great  institutions,  which  we  have  received 
from  unknown  antiquity,  shall  be  made  as 
much  to  serve  our  Lord  and  blaster  in  the 
changing  circumstances  of  the  present  day  as 
they  did  when  they  sprang  from  the  hands  of 
their  founders  in  the  old  times  that  are  past.'' 
Therefore  we  have,  in  looking  to  the  ideal  of 
our  cathedral,  to  look  both  back  to  what  was 


176     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


originally  intended,  and  to  look  around  us  now 
to  see  bow  far  the  original  intentions  arc  cap- 
able of  being  applied  ucefuliy,  as  in  God"s 
sight,  to  the  changing  circumstances  of  the 
present  age. 

Now,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  originally  founded  these  institu- 
tions, or  reformed  them  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  they  were  intended  to  be  centres 
of  religious  life.  It  .is  a  very  serious  question 
for  us  to  ask  ourselves  at  this  moment  how 
far  this  great  institution  of  ours  is,  as  I  trust  it 
is,  the  centre  of  religious  hfe  and  of  religious  light 
to  this  diocese,  and  in  its  degree,  to  the  whole 
Church.  This  is  a  question  -we  have  to  pro- 
pound to  ourselves.  Every  one  of  us  has  a 
part  to  bear  in  giving  life  to  this  ideal,  from 
the  visitor,  as  I  have  said  before,  down  to  the 
youngest  student  who  is  engaged  in  preparing 
himself  for  life  in  the  King's  School.  There 
can  be  no  harm  in  praising  the  exertions  which 
have  been  made  in  other  cathedrals,  though  it 
would  be  very  undesirable  that,  gathered  here 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


177 


to-day,  we  should  begin  to  praise  ourselves. 
Let  us  see,  therefore,  if  we  can  find  any  other 
cathedral  which,  under  very  difficult  circum- 
stances, is  endeavouring  to  fulful  tliis  great  duty 
of  being  the  centre  of  light  and  of  worship 
where  God  has  placed  it.  It  must  be  granted 
that  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  has  no  easy  task,  in 
the  very  centre  of  modern  civilization,  sur- 
rounded by  four  millions  of  people,  a  vast 
number  of  whom  have  no  connexion  with  the 
Church  which  St  Paul's  typifies.  Yet  I  am 
bound  to  say  that,  during  late  years,  a  great 
work  has  been  done  in  that  cathedral.  No  one 
can  enter  it  on  a  weekday  or  on  Sunday  without 
seeing  that  it  has  laid  hold  of  the  hearts  of  the 
people  of  that  great  metropolis.  No  one  can 
doubt  that  there  is  life  and  energy  within  it,  and 
that  it  is  becoming,  as  much  as  the  altered  cir- 
cumstances of  the  times  allow,  very  much  the 
centre  of  religious  life  in  that  evervvhelming 
metropolis.  Now,  this  is  the  sort  of  ideal  which 
ought  to  be  present  to  the  minds  of  all  who 
would  improve  any  one  of  our  cathedrals.  It 

N 


1 78     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


is,  I  trust,  present  to  our  minds,  and  that  we  do 
endeavour,  as  far  as  adverse  circumstances  allow, 
to  fulfil  it.  We  have  to  ask  ourselves  to-day 
whether  we  can  fulfil  it  better.  The  thing  is  not 
impossible — that  is  plain.  IMuch  may  be  done. 
Difficulties  stand  in  our  way,  but  those  diffi- 
culties will  disappear  if  we  brace  ourselves  to 
our  work  with  an  earnest  purpose  to  work  as 
in  God's  sight. 

When  we  speak  of  the  cathedral  as  the  centre 
of  rclig'ous  life,  first  we  have  its  worship.  And 
we  are  met  here  together  to  ask  ourselves 
to-day  whether,  in  all  respects,  our  worship 
is  as  perfect  as  it  might  be.  I  am  sure  there 
is  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  all  of  us 
to  make  it  as  perfect  as  possible.  Our  mus'c 
should  be  beautiful,  elevating,  edifying,  above 
all,  devotional.  A  great  deal  of  skill,  a 
great  deal  of  time,  a  great  deal  of  self- 
discipline  will  be  required  if  we  are  to 
bring  even  this  one  part  of  our  work  to  the 
perfection  which  it  is  capable  of  attaining. 
But  in  the  worship  of  Protestant  cathedrals, 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


179 


musical  services,  and  even  devotional  services, 
always  go  hand-in-hand  with  instruction.  The 
manner  of  reading  the  Word  of  God  may 
seem  a  little  matter,  but  it  is  very  im.- 
portant  for  us  to  consider  with  ourselves 
whether  the  reading  of  the  Word  of  God, 
as  an  important  point  in  all  our  church  ser- 
vices, is  as  perfect  as  it  ought  to  be  ;  whether 
those  who  casually  enter  our  cathedral,  coming 
it  may  be  by  some  excursion  train,  and  remain- 
ing for  the  service,  hearing  the  Word  of  God 
read,  may  fairly  be  expected  to  carry  away  with 
them  some  striking  sentence  from  Holy  Writ 
which  may  be  of  use  to  them  in  their  after 
lives.  And  if  the  reading  of  the  Word  of 
God,  so  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God. 
We  have  all  of  us,  who  are  ordained  ministers 
of  Christ,  carefully  to  consider  with  ourselves 
whether  our  preaching  does  answer  the  great 
purpose  for  which  the  Lord  sent  us  forth 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  In 
every  cathedral  with  which  I  am  acquainted 
there  are  old  arrangements   about  preaching 

Ii.2 


I  So    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


which  I  am  bound  to  say  I  think  might  be 
improved.  Why  should  people  be  tied  down 
to  some  routine,  unless  it  is  found  that 
that  routine  produces  the  very  best  possible 
result  ?  Therefore,  I  should  not  be  surprised 
if  the  commissioners  who  are  appointed  to 
consider  the  condition  of  our  cathedral  bodies 
were  to  suggest  that  some  alteration  might  pro- 
fitably be  made  in  this  matter.  Of  course,  with 
the  learned  divines  and  aSle  men  that  we  have 
here,  we  ought  to  be  free  from  the  imputations 
which  have  been  made  as  to  other  cathedrals 
elsewhere ;  but  even  we  may  not  have  attained 
that  absolute  standard  of  such  perfection  as 
is  attainable.  I  have  heard  it  said  elsewhere, 
of  other  cathedrals,  that  if  you  want  to  hear 
dull  sermons  in  a  diocese,  you  had  better  go 
to  the  centre  of  the  diocese,  and  there  you 
are  likely  to  hear  them.  I  do  not  for  a  moment 
say  that  that  is  the  case  here.  But  still  it  is 
quite  possible  that  even  here  some  wiser  ar- 
rangement might  be  devised  than  that  which  has 
stereotyped  a  system  which  makes  the  tenure 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


i8i 


of  a  particular  ofuce,  rather  than  a  fitness  to 
address  the  souls  of  the  people  who  frequent 
the  cathedral,  the  qualification  for  addressing 
them  from  the  pulpit.  I  will  not  dwell  further 
upon  this  :  but  I  think  that  it  is  a  matter  which 
might  well  engage  the  attention  of  the  cathedral 
bodies,  whether,  somehow  or  other,  more  elasti- 
city 'may  not  be  given  to  the  preaching  rota, 
whereby,  without  losing  any  of  that  great 
authority  which  naturally  belongs  to  the  prin- 
cipal preachers  of  our  great  cathedrals,  we  might 
occasionally  have  more  life.  No  doubt  much 
has  been  done  in  this  respect  in  late  years.  To 
refer  again  to  St.  Paul's,  which  has  its  disad- 
vantages and  difficulties,  but  also  its  advantages, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  since  I  first  became 
acquainted  with  the  Diocese  of  London, 
twenty-four  years  ago,  the  whole  system  has 
been  there  entirely  altered.  The  custom  of 
introducing  extraneous  preachers,  at  special 
evening  services  on  Sunday,  began  in  the 
metropolis  at  Westminster  Abbey,  under  Dean 
Trench,  and  Dean  Milman  speedily  followed 


1 82     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


the  example  at  St.  Paul's.  The  best  preachers 
in  England  one  after  another  are  now  to  be 
heard  in  these  two  cathedrals,  whether  they 
belong  to  the  cathedral  body  or  whether  they 
do  not.  You  will  hear  on  Sunday  evenings 
the  most  eminent  theologians  and  the  best 
preachers  in  the  whole  Church  of  England — 
I  might  say,  the  best  that  are  to  be  found  any- 
where. And  though  a  cathedral  in  a  country 
town  is  very  differently  circumstanced  in  this 
respect  from  a  cathedral  in  the  great  central 
metropolis,  yet  still  you  will  be  acting  wisely, 
I  am  sure,  in  this  cathedral,  in  more  completely 
opening  the  pulpit,  as  you  have  partially  opened 
it  of  late  years.  By  means  even  of  what  you 
have  already  done  the  old  stereotyped  system 
has  somewhat  given  way  to  the  introduction  of 
fresh  life,  and  I  trust  that  all  have  benefited 
by  it. 

Again,  if  our  cathedral  is  to  be  the  centre 
of  religious  life  and  of  worship  and  of  preach- 
ing, we  all  are  reminded,  every  time  we  enter 
the  precincts  of  this  cathedral,  that  it  is  to  be 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


183 


the  centre  of  religious  life  in  the  way  J5f  edu- 
cation ;  and  here  I  am  bound  to  say  that  I 
think  nothing  has  been  wanting  in  the  arrange- 
ments of  this  cathedral  body  for  making  the 
educational  establishments  connected  with  it 
as  efficient  and  useful  as  they  possibly  can  be. 
And  I  am  sure  that  in  those  who  teach,  and  in 
those  who  preside  over  the  regulation  of  our 
educational  establishments,  there  is  an  earnest 
spirit  and  a  determination  to  make  our  schools 
efficient,  as  religious  Church  of  England  schools. 
I  hope  the  time  may  come  when  our  choristers' 
school  may  be  improved.  It  makes  a  very 
great  difference  as  to  the  usefulness  of  our  cathe- 
dral services  whether  the  boys  who  compose  the 
choir,  and  whose  very  occupation,  while  it  is  one 
of  privilege,  is  also  one  of  considerable  tempta- 
tion, be  thoroughly  and  devotionally  trained. 
I  believe  it  is  granted  that  if  the  means  were 
at  hand  much  might  be  done  to  improve  this 
cathedral  in  this  respect.  To  turn  again  to 
the  central  cathedral  of  the  metropolis.  With 
the  abundant  wealth  which  that  body  possesses, 


1 84    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[VII 


it  has  £stablished  a  great  choristers'  school  which 
is  in  many  respects  likely  to  be  a  model.  It 
may  be  very  difficult,  with  our  crippled  re- 
sources, to  accomplish  the  same  good  work 
which  has  been  done  there.  But  I  am  sure 
that  there  is  everj'  desire  on  the  part  of  those 
who  govern  this  cathedral  to  make  the  choristers' 
school  as  efficient  as  is  the  great  King's  School 
attached  to  our  body. 

We  are  honoured  to-day  by  a  very  large 
assemblage  of  those  who,  some  twenty-five 
years  ago,  would  not  have  existed  in  this 
cathedral  institution — our  honorary  Canons.  I 
think  that,  even  with  the  little  that  has  as  yet 
been  done  to  attach  them  distinctly  to  the 
cathedral  body,  they  have  been  of  great  use 
in  connecting  the  cathedral  with  the  diocese. 
The  fact  of  a  number  of  men  who  have  worked 
hard  in  their  several  parishes,  bearing  even  an 
honorary  name  which  connects  them  with  the 
great  central  cathedral,  has  a  good  effect  in 
the  whole  diocese.  Some  people  think  the 
honorary  Canons  ought  to  manage  the  cathe- 


VII.]  ADDRESS.  185 

dials.  I  do  not  think  we  are  likely  to  have 
a  revolutionary  change  of  that  kind.  But  I 
think  that  it  is  very  desirable  indeed  that 
in  this  respect  the  cathedrals  of  the  new 
foundation  should  be  more  assimilated  to 
the  cathedrals  of  the  old.  You  are  aware, 
probably,  that  some  years  ago  Mr.  Randolph, 
a  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's,  tested,  in  a  court 
of  law,  the  rights  of  the  old  prebcndal  chapter 
of  St.  Paul's  as  compared  with  the  rights  of 
the  residentiary  chapter.  All  that  was  esta- 
blished was  this  (but  it  was  an  important  point 
as  far  as  it  went),  that  non-residentiary  pre- 
bendaries, answering  very  much  to  our  hono- 
rary canons,  though,  of  course,  of  an  older 
foundation,  are  entitled,  with  the  lesser  chapter, 
to  vote  for  the  election  of  proctors  in  Convoca- 
tion. And,  accordingly,  the  election  of  proctors 
in  Convocation  is  now  an  election  conducted 
in  that  cathedral  by  the  whole  body  of  non- 
residentiary  as  well  as  residentiary  canons.  It 
certainly  has  occurred  to  many  persons  that 
it  would   be  no  inconvenience,  but  quite  the 


1 86     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


reverse,  to  associate  the  honorary  canons  of 
our  cathedrals  of  the  new  foundation  with  the 
residentiary  canons  in  such  duties  as  that  which 
has  been  claimed  and  vindicated  for  them  in 
the  case  to  which  I  have  alluded.  And  once 
having  established  that  these  honorary  canons 
may  be  called  together  for  the  purpose  of  these 
elections,  it  naturally  suggests  itself  to  us  that 
there  may  be  other  circumstances  also  under 
which  the  bishop  or  the  dean  or  the  canons  resi- 
dentiary may  desire  to  confer  with  them  ;  and 
that,  therefore,  meetings  of  these  honorary 
canons  in  a  greater  chapter  might  by  no  means 
be  a  disadvantage,  but  of  great  use  to  the 
Church  and  to  the  diccese. 

With  regard  to  the  governing  body,  it  is 
difficult,  I  think,  to  say  exactly  what  was  the 
original  ideal  on  which  the  residentiary  canon's 
office  was  established.  But  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  my  mind  in  saying  what  is  the  sort 
of  ideal  which  is  suitable  for  this  present  age. 
Our  Universities,  from  a  change  of  circum- 
stances which  we   may  greatly  deplore,  but 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


187 


which  we  cannot  alter,  are  severing,  more  and 
more,  their  formal  connection  with  the  Church. 
If  the  Church  is  to  maintain,  in  an  age  like 
this,  the  high  position  which  it  has  ever  main- 
tained on  account  of  learning,  we  must  have 
positions  for  learned  men.  I  may  speak  in  the 
presence  of  the  residentiaries  of  this  cathedral 
with  perfect  freeness  on  this  subject,  for  I 
believe  it  will  be  difficult  to  produce  any  ca- 
thedral in  the  kingdom,  the  names  of  the 
members  of  which  are  better  known  as  learned 
men  than  are  the  residentiaries  of  the  cathedral 
in  which  we  are  now  assembled.  I  trust  that 
this  characteristic  of  our  cathedral  body  will 
ever  be  maintained.  Study,  however,  is  not 
inconsistent  with  some  outward  activity.  We, 
in  our  cathedral  body,  have  two  officers  whose 
business  it  is  to  co-operate  with  the  Bishop  in 
the  management  of  this  important  diocese. 
I  believe  I  may  fairly  say,  that  if  it  were  not 
for  the  assistance  which  I  personally  receive 
from  the  two  archdeacons,  it  would  be  im- 
possible with  any  satisfaction  to  carry  on  the 


1 88    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 

work  of  the  Diocesan  Episcopate  as  connected 
with  the  duties  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury.   And  yet  I  do  not  think  that  even  the 
onerous  .duties  wliich  devolve  upon  the  arch- 
deacons   interfere  with   their   being  learned 
men.     Certain  changes  as  regards  the  Canons 
Residentiary   have,    I    am    free    to  confess, 
been  proposed.    Whether  they  will  be  carried 
into  effect   or   not   is  quite  another  matter. 
But   it   may   be   well   that   we  here  should 
know    what    sort    of    clianges    have  been 
proposed,  and  consider  for  ourselves  how  far 
they  are  good.     One  is  that  a  point  in  the 
ancient  statutes  which  seems  in  many  cathe- 
drals, if  not  in  this,  to  have  been  somewhat 
overlooked,  should  be  reasserted— namely,  the 
controlling  authority  of  the  dean,  assisted  by 
the  precentor,  in  the  whole  management  and 
the  arrangement  of  the  cathedral  services.  I 
do  not  know  that  this  is  not  the  case  here 
already,  but  it  is  not  the  case  in  all  cathedrals— 
that  I  can  testify.    It  is  true  that  in  the  multi- 
tude of  counsellors  there  is  wisdom,  but  if  you 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


wish  to  manage  your  parishes  well,  do  you 
think  it  would  be  a  good  plan  for  the  manage- 
ment of  them  that  you  should  always  call  a 
meeting  of  the  whole  rural  deanery  when  you 
wish  to  make  the  slightest  change  or  im- 
provement in  the  arrangement  of  your  parish 
church  ?  And  that  you  should  be  bound 
hand  and  foot  not  to  make  any  change  till  you 
had  persuaded  the  whole  body  of  the  rural 
deanery  to  agree  to  what  you  think  best  for 
your  parish  church  ?  I  believe  that  this  sort  of 
divided  responsibility  is  the  most  admirable  of 
all  machinery  for  preventing  improvements.  If 
we  wish  to  improve  we  must  throw  upon  the 
members  individually  the  responsibilities  which 
we  call  upon  them  to  fulfil.  And  I  believe  that 
this  was  the  ideal  of  the  original  statutes — that 
certain  officers,  as  the  executive,  had  great 
duties  committed  to  them  which  it  was  left  to 
their  individual  responsibility,  acting  to  the. best 
of  their  judgment,  adequately  to  fulfil.  The 
central  body  met  to  lay  down  great  principles 
from  time  to  time,  but  it  considered  that,  having 


I90    THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii. 


elected  certain  officers,  or  having  received  cer- 
tain officers  elected  by  others,  those  officers  had 
their  distinct  duties  to  perform.  Usually,  the 
dean  of  the  cathedral  had  a  very  distinct  office 
to  perform  as  regulator  of  the  whole,  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  precentor  acting  under 
him,  was  to  be  considered  as  responsible  for  the 
services  of  the  Church. 

What,  then,  is  the  duty  of  the  canons.? 
There,  are  various  offices  which  the  old  statutes 
prescribed  as  falling  to  the  canons.  These 
offices  ought  to  be  made,  as  much  as  possible, 
realities,  and  in  some  cathedrals  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  old  foundation  carries  on  the 
work  of  instruction.  You  all  know  what 
has  been  going  on  in  this  matter  at  Lincoln. 
You  know  how  similar  views  have  been  im- 
ported into  the  now  scarcely  formed  cathedral 
at  Truro.  This,  at  all  events,  is  certain,  that 
some  duties  connected  with  instruction— and  in- 
struction which  shall  extend  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  actual  cathedral  body— may  most  legiti- 
mately and  properly  be  committed  to  certain  of 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


191 


the  members  of  the  residentiary  chapter.  It 
has  been  found  in  some  places  that  lectures 
delivered  in  great  centres  of  the  diocese  by 
members  of  the  chapter  have  been  of  use.  How 
far  any  system  of  this  kind  can  be  incorporated 
into  our  existing  cathedral  system  here  in 
Canterbury  I  am  not  prepared  at  the  present 
moment  to  say  ;  but  I  do  not  despair  that 
something  of  the  kind  may  take  effect.  We 
have  lately  been  making  considerable  exertions 
to  secure  some  means  of  sending  deserving  can- 
didates for  holy  orders  to  the  Universities.^ 
Several  young  men  are  at  this  moment  main- 
tained at  the  Universities  by  a  diocesan  fund. 
It  seems  at  once  to  open  up  a  sphere  of  useful- 
ness for  some  one  of  our  residentiary  body  that 
he  should  take  the  management  of  these  young 
men  more  distinctly  under  his  control,  cor- 
respond with  them,  direct  them  in  their  work, 
and  generally  look  after  their  progress,  and  see 
that  they  are  making  good  use  of  the  assistance 
which  the  diocese  affords  to  them.  In  some 
'  Vide  Appendix  C. 


192     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[V.I. 


places  a  theological  college  has  been  established 
in  connexion  with  cathedrals.  You  are  aware 
that  we  discussed  this  subject  at  some  length  at 
one  of  our  diocesan  conferences,  and  it  was 
decided  that,  upon  the  whole,  it  was  not  desi- 
rable for  the  present,  at  least,  to  establish  such 
a  diocesan  theological  college.  But  something 
of  the  kind  in  the  way  of  assisting  these  young 
students  who  are  sent  from  our  diocese  to  pre- 
pare for  the  ministry  may  certainly  be  incor- 
porated with  advantage  in  our  cathedral  sj-stem 
Again,  this  town  of  Canterbury  contains,  if  I 
am  right,  eighteen  churches.  It  ought  to  be  a 
model  town  with  so  many  clergymen  to  look 
after  comparatively  few  people,  and  I  hope  and 
trust  it  is.  But  this  suggests  whether,  somehow 
or  other,  members  of  the  cathedral  body  might 
not  take  more  under  their  cai'e  than  they  have 
done,  according  to  the  traditions  of  past  times,  the 
different  parishes  clustered  round  the  cathedral. 
Some  .scheme  of  this  kind  I  certainly  hope  will 
be  ventilated  and  reduced  to  some  useful  form. 
Now  many  people  are  anxious  that  our  canons 


VII.J 


ADDRESS. 


should  do  nothing  whatever  but  be  canons.  I 
do  not  know  that  this  is  a  very  good  thing. 
If  you  find  a  distinct  work  for  a  man  it  is 
very  desirable  that  he  should  be  present 
in  the  sphere  in  which  his  work  lies.  And 
no  doubt  the  diocese  has  a  prior  claim  to 
other  places  on  the  cathedral  as  its  centre. 
But  our  cathedrals  do  not  wholly  belong  to  a 
particular  diocese,  they  belong  to  the  Church. 
We  cannot  forget  that  here  it  is  not,  as  in 
some  cathedrals,  the  diocesan  who  has  to  fill 
up  every  office  in  the  residentiary  body.  On 
the  contrary,  most  of  those  who  come  to  us 
are  eminent  men  selected  by  Her  Majesty's 
advisers  or  by  Her  Majesty  herself  and  sent 
down,  thereby  proclaiming  our  connexion 
not  merely  with  the  diocese  of  Canterbury, 
but  with  the  whole  Church.  I  believe,  for 
example,  that  the  University  is  the  better  for 
its  connexion  with  the  Church  through  the 
canon-professor,  and  that  the  cathedral,  as 
well  as  the  diocese,  is  also  the  better  for  its 
connexion   with   the    University   through  the 

O 


194     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE. 


[VII. 


professor-canon.  But  these,  of  course,  are  merely 
hints  which  are  thrown  out  for  consideration. 
When  the  statutes  are  ready  to  be  laid  before 
Her  Majesty,  and  before  they  have  been  finally 
approved,  they  will  be  submitted  to  the  resi- 
dentiary body,  that  they  may  give  what  advice 
seems  to  them  desirable  on  the  subject. 

There  are  two  points  I  have  omitted.  The 
duty  of  the  minor  canons  and  the  duty  of 
the  Six-preachers.  Efforts  will  certainly  be 
made  to  render  the  relations  of  both  these 
offices  to  the  chapter  more  satisfactory.  Modi- 
fications will,  no  doubt,  be  suggested  in  the 
tenure  of  the  offices,  and  improvement  sought 
in  other  respects.  VVe  must  all  feel  how  greatly 
the  efficiency  of  the  daily  services  depends 
upon  the  careful  and  loving  discharge  of  their 
duties  by  the  minor  canons. 

We  have  heard  a  good  deal  in  the  Diocese  of 
late  about  the  office  of  Six-preacher.  I  cannot 
say  I  think  this  office  answers  at  the  present 
moment  either  to  the  ideal  which  was  in  the 
mind  of  the  person  who  founded  it,  or  to  that 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


second  ideal  of  usefulness  in  supplying  the  wants 
of  the  present  day.  I  suppose  the  congrega- 
tions which  they  address  are  not  very  numerous 
and  that  from  no  fault  of  their  own,  because, 
as  I  understand,  they  generally  preach  on  days 
when  there  are  not  likely  to  be  very  large 
congregations.  I  am  aware  that  if  their  con- 
gregations are  not  large,  neither  are  their  sti- 
pends ;  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that 
a  man  can  devote  his  energies  to  a  work  of 
this  kind,  when  he  has  other  pressing  duties  else- 
where, and  when  the  arrangements  made  for  the 
office  are  of  the  insufficient  kind  which  they  are 
at  present.  Therefore  it  has  been  suggested 
that  it  would  be  a  very  good  thing  to  diminish 
the  number  of  the  Six-preachers,  and  to  in- 
crease their  pay,  assigning  to  them  at  the 
same  time  more  distinct  duties,  such  as  were 
contemplated  in  the  original  foundation  of  their 
office,  duties  which  I  think  no  one  can  doubt 
are  very  much  required  now,  as  they  were  when 
the  office  was  originally  established.  Preachers 
who  shall  circulate  through  the  diocese,  selected 

O  2 


196     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vii.' 


for  their  fitness  to  discharge  the  office,  and  so 
remunerated  that  it  will  be  possible  for  them 
to  give  their  time  and  attention  to  it,  may  be 
a  most  useful  adjunct  to  every  cathedral  in  the 
country  ;  and  other  catiicdrals  which  have  not 
the  advantage  of  this  arrangement  in  their 
statutes  may  benefit  by  following  the  sugges- 
tions made  by  our  statues. 

But  there  is  a  very  common-place  difficulty 
which  remains  at  the  end  of  all  our  arrange- 
ments, and  it  is  this;  that  the  work  is  infinite, 
and  the  material  for  the  performance  of  it,  or 
the  adequate  discharge  of  it,  is  very  limited  in- 
deed. We  spoke  of  what  has  been  done  by  St. 
Paul's  ;  we  may  speak  of  what  has  been  done  by 
Durham  ;  but,  though  it  is  a  sad  thing  to 
confess,  yet  I  am  afraid  we  must  allow  that  the 
wealth  of  those  two  great  bodies  has  been  a  most 
important  factor  in  their  being  able  so  well  to 
discharge  the  duties  that  have  been  committed 
to  them.  Besides  the  salaries  appropriated  by 
Act  of  Parliament  to  the  members  of  chapter 
in  such  Cathedrals,  there  are,  at  St.  Paul's  and 


VII.] 


ADDRESS. 


197 


at  Durham,  large  public  funds  available  to  in- 
crease the  usefulness  of  the  general  cathedral 
staff.  Unfortunately  this  is  not  so  here,  and 
unless  some  means  can  be  devised  for  increas- 
ing the  funds  at  the  disposal  of  this  cathedral 
body,  I  am  afraid'  we  may  talk  of  reforms  to 
the  end  of  our  lives,  and  we  shall  find  very 
great  difficulty  in  accomplishing  them.  Now, 
it  so  happens  there  is  a  clause  in  an  Act  of 
Parliament  passed  not  many  years  ago^  which 
may  help  us  in  this  matter.  It  was  a  clause 
introduced  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  author- 
izing the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  to  apply 
to  certain  offices  in  the  cathedrals,  which  were 
supposed  to  be  underpaid,  sufficient  funds  out 
of  any  estates  formerly  belonging  to  the 
cathedrals  which  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
Commissioners.  The  Ecclesiastical  Commis- 
sioners are  not  commanded  to  perform  this 
duty  ;  they  are  only  commanded  to  consider 
it.  I  am  sorry  that  their  consideration  hitherto 
has  not  led  to  any  satisfactory  result.  But  I 
'  Vide  Appendix  D. 


1 98     THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE.  [vir. 

think  it  is  right  that  we  should  call  attention 
from  this  cathedral  to  the  existence  of  this 
decision  of  the  Imperial  Parliamcnt-that  we 
should  state  our  case  clearly  and  distinctly,  and 
show  what  are  our  wants  and  what  is  the  com- 
paratively moderate  sum  which  we  should  be 
satisfied  with.     Parliament  has  given  similar 
instructions  to  the  Commissioners  with  regard 
to  local  claims  in  parishes,  which  claims  have 
been  attended  to ;  but  we  think  it  wrong  that 
Parliament  should  have  called  attention  in  the 
same  way  to  local  claims  in  our  cathedrals,  and 
that  those  claims  should  hitherto  have  been 
entirely  ignored.     I  hope,  therefore,  that  our 
projects  of  improvement  of  our  cathedral  body 
are  not  altogether  visionary,  and  that  they  may 
be  arranged  in  course  of  time,  and  that  those 
various  improvements  may  be  brought  to  ac- 
complishment by    such   assistance   from  the 
Commissioners    as    is    indispensable   for  the 
discharge  of  our  duties. 

I  have  detained  you  much  too  long,  but  the 
subject  is  one  which  very  much  interests  me  in 


vii.l  ADDRESS.  199 

connexion  with  this  visitation  and  in  connexion 
with  my  duties  elsewhere  ;  it  is  one  which  I 
persuade  myself  greatly  interests  the  public ; 
and  it  is  one  which  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting 
to  you.  Before  we  part  let  us  once  more 
seriously  call  to  mind  the  responsibilities  which 
rest  upon  us  as  members  of  this  time-honoured 
institution.  Turn  where  we  will,  within  these 
walls  associations  of  the  past  call  upon  us  during 
our  brief  span  to  fulfil  the  duties  which  God 
requires  of  us.  Go  into  the  Deanery,  and  you 
will  see  there  pictures  of  great  men  who,  in 
connexion  with  this  cathedral,  began  or  ended 
great  careers  of  usefulness  for  the  Church  in 
which  they  were  ornaments.  Look  around  these 
walls  and  trace  the  monuments  which  you  are 
passing,  and  from  all  of  them  voices  will  be 
heard  calling  each  of  us  while  our  life  lasts  to 
exert  ourselves  for  our  Lord  and  Master. 


APPENDICES. 


VIII. 


APPENDICES. 

APPENDIX  A.— See  p.  i8. 

I  have  bee.i  furnished  with  the  following  note  by  the  Rev. 
R.  T.  Davidson,  my  chaplain. 

A.  C.  C. 

"  The  number  of  hymns  in  ordinary  congregational  use  in 
our  churches  is  very  large,  and  probably  the  majority  of  those 
which  have  attained  a  wide  popularity,  whether  among 
Churchmen  or  Nonconformists,  have  been  written  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  England.  The  hymns  of  such  Church- 
men as  Bishop  Ken,  Bishop  Heber,  John  Keble,  Isaac 
Williams,  Dean  Milman,  Henry  Francis  Lyte,  and  many 
others,  are  known  and  loved  among  all  Protestant  denomina- 
tions wherever  the  English  tongue  is  spoken.  In  the 
*  Scottish  Hymnal,'  for  example,  authorised  by  the  General 
Assembly  for  use  in  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  we 
find  hymns  written  by  each  of  the  above-named  authors  and 
by  many  other  English  Churv-hmen. 


204 


APPENDICES. 


[viii. 


"  On  the  other  hand,  the  subjoined  table,  specifying  the 
authorship,  or  reputed  authorship,  of  about  one  hundred  of 
our  own  best-known  hymns,  may  serve  to  show  how  various 
are  the  sources  from  which  many  of  those  in  general  use 
among  us  have  been  collected.  In  cases  where  the  hymn  was 
originally  written  in  another  language,  the  name  of  the  ori- 
ginal author,  and  not  of  the  translator,  has  been  given. 
Some  of  the  authors  named  in  the  last  division  of  the  list 
never  separated  themselves  from  the  Church  of  England  ; 
but  the  school  to  which  their  sympathies  belonged  has 
been  subsequently  identified,  however  erroneously,  with  the 
l\Iethodist  movement  of  the  last  century. 

"It  will  be  obvious  that  the  table  I  have  drawn  up  makes 
no  pretension  to  completeness.  For  some  of  the  information 
't  contains  I  am  indebted  to  a  paper  read  by  the  present 
Lord  Chancellor  at  the  York  Church  Congress  in  1866. 


"  R.  T.  D." 


(i).  HYMNS  OF  THE  EARLY  CHURCH. 


5 


Ascribed  lo  — 
S.  Ambrose 


.  Now  the  dnyllght  fills  the  sky  . 
.    O  Jesn  Lord  .>f  he.ivenly  grace  . 


.  liet  re  the  ending  ot  trie  day  .  . 
.    Almighty  Ciod, '1  hy  throne  above 


Ilef  re  the  ending  of  the  day  . 


.  u  tj  jii  oi  tnitn,  I)  Lora  01  mignt 
.    C  meH.  lyC.hoit.who.everone 


O  G  >A  of  truth,  ()  Lord  of  might 


Karth  has  many  a  noMe  city  .  . 


VITI.] 


APPENDICES. 


205 


(2).  MEDIEVAL  HYMNS,  ETC. 


Ascribed  to — 
S.  John  of  Damascus 
Stephen  the  Sabaite 
Joseph  r.f  the  Studiunr 


S.  Bonavenliir.-i  . 
S.  Bernard  of  Clugny 
S.  Bernard  of  Clairvau 


S.  Thomas  Aquinas 
S.  Thomas  of  Celano 


Collection"  . 
S.  Francis  Xavier 


The  day  of  resurrection    .    •  . 

Art  thou  weary?  

O  happy  band  of  pilsrrims  .  . 
'J  he  strain  upraise  of  jny  praise 
At  the  cross  her  statiuu  keeping. 
Jn  the  Lord's  atoning  grief  .  . 
Jerusalem  the  golden  .  .  .  , 
( )  sacred  head  surrounded  .  .  . 
Jesu,  thou  juy  of  loving  hearts  . 
Jesu  the  very  thuught  of  Thee  . 
Thee  we  adore,  O  hidden  Saviour 
Ihee  


Day  of  wrath,  O  day  of  mourning 
That  day  of  wrath  that  dreadful 

Come  Holy  Ghost  our  souls  inspirt 
Now  God  be  with  us  for  the  night 

is  closing  

Christ  the  Lord  Is  risen  again  !  , 
My  God  I  love  Thee,  not  because 


(3).  HYMNS  WRITTEN  BY  INDEPENDENTS. 

Isaac  Watts  ....  Come  let  usjoin  our  cheerful  songs 
Jesus  shallretgn  where'er  the  sun 
Lord  of  the  W(Tlds  above  .  .  . 
O  God  our  help  in  ages  past  .  . 
There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight  . 
How  bright  those  glorious  spirits 


Philip  Doddridge 
Simon  Browne . 


of  the  Lord   .    .  . 
Come  gracious  Spirit,  heavenly 
dove  


(4).  HYMNS  WRITTEN  BY  PRESBVTERIANS. 


Richard  Baxter 

Joseph  Grigg  . 
'J  homas  Gibbons 
Anna  L.  Barbauld 

Horatius  Eonar 


Lord  it  belongs  not  to  our  care  , 
Ye  holy  angels  bright  .... 
Jesus,  and  shall  it  ever  be.  .  . 
Angels  roll  the  rock  away  .  . 


■  to  God, 

1  the  Lnrd  of  lighl 


id  1 
shall  roll 


206 


APPENDICES. 


[VIII. 


(5).  HYMNS  WRITTEN  BY  BAPTISTS. 


ele     ....  I  Father  of  mercies  in  Thv  word  . 

.  .  .  .  Father,  whate'er  of  ear  h.y  bliss 
I  Beddome  .    .  1  Witness  ye  men  and  angels  now 


(6)  HYMNS  WRITTEN  BY  ROMAN  CATHOLICS. 


F.  W.  Faber 


Sweet  Saviour  bless  lis  ere  we  gc 
O  come  and  mourn  with  m( 

a  while  

Hark.  hark,  my  soul  .  .  . 
Lead,  kindly  light,  amid  ih'  en 


Praise  to  the  HoLest  ia  the  height 


(7).  HYMNS  WRITTEN  BY  MORAVIANS. 


John  Cennick  (in  part)  . 


Nicolaus  Zinzendorf 


Lo  He  comes  

Children  of  the  Heavenly  King 
Awake  and  s^ng  the  song  .  . 
Angels  from  the  realms  of  glory 
Go  to  dark  Gethsemane    .  . 
For  ever  with  the  Lord  .    .  . 
Hail  to  the  Lord's  anointed  . 
Songs  of  praise  the  angels  sang 
Lord,  pour  Thy  Spirit  from  on  high 
O  1  hou,  to  whose  all-se 

Jesiis.Thy  blood  and  right 


VIII.] 


APPENDICES. 


207 


HYMNS  GENERALLY  IDENTIFIED  WITH 

THK  MKTHODIST  M  IVKMENT  OF  THE 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


Robert  Se.igrave  .    .  . 
Angii'itu'i  Kl.  'I'oplady  . 
Charles  Wesley    .    .  . 
„         „     (in  part) 


John  Ne 


T.'kaweis  .  .  ! 
Rowland  Hill  ..  . 
Thos.Kelly(i9lh  century) 


Rise  my  soul  and  stretch  thy  wing 
Ri)clc  of  ages  cleft  for  me  .  . 
Hark,  the  herald  angels  sing  .  . 
Lo  He  comes,  with  clouds  de^ 

scending  .    .    .  ^  

Christ  the  Lord  is  risen  to-day 
Sf>ldiers  of  Christ  arise      .     .  . 
Forth  in  Thy  name.  O  Lord,  I  gc 
Christ,  whose  glory  fills  the  skie; 


I  forf 


Lord  i 


Guide  me,  ( )  Thou  great  Redeemer 
I  he  God  of  Abraham  praise  .  . 
H.iil  thou  once  despised  Jesus  . 
Hark,  my  soul,  it  is  the  Lord 
O  for  a  closer  walk  with  God  . 
God  of  our  l.fe,  to  Thee  we  call  . 
God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way  . 
Gl  prions  things  of  Thee  are  spoken 
Ho*-  sweet  the  name  of  J 
soindi  

hom  all  goodnes: 

Lo.  n  und  the  thr. 

Through  the  day  Thy  love  hath 

Co'me,  see  the  place  where  Je 
lay 

crowned 


glo 


:  head  that  ( 


208  APPENDICES.  [viii 


APPENDIX  B— See  p.  41. 

The  French  Pastor,  to  whose  statement  I  have  referrd,  is 
M.  Eugene  Bersier.  I  have  since  been  in  correspondence 
with  M.  Bersier  upon  the  subject,  and  the  following  is  an 
extract  from  one  of  his  letters 

....  "Appeld  kcdlebrer  continuellement  des  enterrements 
dans  nos  cimetieres  de  Paris,  je  me  suis  fait  un  devoir  de 
recueiller  aussi  exactement  que  possible  auprcs  des  Ordonna- 
teurs  des  Pompes  funubres  des  renseignements  precis  sur  le 
nombre  des  enterrements  purement  civils.  Je  suis  heureux 
de  declarer,  d'apres  leur  t^moignage,  que  ce  nombre  est 
comparativement  tr^s  restreint. 

"  Dans  rOuest  de  Paris,  il  monte  k  deux  ou  trois  par  cent.,  et 
dans  les  quartiers  tout-k-fait  populaires,  on  estime  qu'il  ne 
ddpasse  pas  cinq  par  cent.  J'ajoute  que  mon  impression 
sur  ce  point  est  partag^  par  mes  coUtfgues  dans  le  ministere. 

"  Au  reste,  il  peut  ctre  interessant  de  citer,  sur  ce  point,  le 
journal  La  R^publique  Franqaise,  oigane  d'un  parti  tres 
nettement  positiviste  et  anti-religieux.  II  disait  le  20 
Septembre  dernier  : — 

"  '  Ddcreter  maintenant,  sans  aucune  provocation  du  clerg^ 
paroissial,  la  suppression  du  budget  des  cultes,  ce  serait 
heurter  de  front  1'  opinion  publique.  lis  sont  tres  rares,  en 
effct,  mane  parmi  les  libres-peiisenis,  les  honimes  qui 
entcndent  se  passer  enticrcinent  du  clerge,  ne  fut-ce  que  pour 
la  premiere  communion  de  lettrs  enfants.' 


"EuG.  Bersier." 


VIII.] 


APPENDICES. 


209 


APPENDIX  C— See  pp.  148-191. 
CANTERBURY  CLERICAL  EDUCATION  FUND. 
€ommitlr£. 


THE  EARL  SONDES 

R  T.  HON  A.  J.  15.  BERESFORD 

HOPE.  M.P. 
J.  G.  l  ALBOT.  ESQ.,  M.P. 
H.  A.  BRASSEY.  ESQ.,  M.P. 
R.  NOR  ION.  ESQ. 
E.  H.  SCOTT,  ESQ. 


THE  BISHOP  OF  DOVER. 
THE  DEAN  OF  CAMKkBURY. 
THE  ARCHDEACON  OF  WAID- 

S'lONE. 
REV.  CANON  KOHl'.R  I  SON. 
REV.  CANON  IFFFKFVS. 
REV,  CANON  JENKINS. 
REV.  C.\NON  SCOTT  ROBERT. 

SON. 

REV.  CANON  ELWYN. 
RiiV.  J.  S.  HOARE. 


Tre.\<;iibeu. 

REV.  CANON  ERSKINE  KNOLLVS,  Wrotbii;u  R-r-tory,  Sevenoaks. 

Hon.  Secrstarv. 
REV.  C.^NON  MOORE,  The  Precincts,  Canterbury. 

IB.inlurs. 

Messrs.  Hammo.nd  &  Cn.  Can'erbury. 
Mesiri.  WlGA.N  &  Co.,  Maidstone. 


The  object  of  the  Fund — founded  by  the  Diocesan  Con- 
ference of  1877,  under  the  sanction  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury — is  to  contribute  towards  the  education  of  can- 
didates for  Holy  Orders,  resident  in,  or  connected  with  the 
Dio"ese  of  Canterbury,  whose  private  means  are  insufficient 
for  the  purpose,  but  w!io  may  be  recommended  as  thoroughly 
deserving  of  assistance. 

P 


2IO 


APPENDICES. 


[viii. 


Grants,  not  exceeding  £Zo  annually  for  three  years  in  any 
one  case,  are  paid  subject  to  Terminal  certificates  of  good 
conduct  and  diligence. 

The  Committee  earnestly  appeal  for  increased  support, 
v;ithout  which  they  will  be  compelled  to  reject  the  applica- 
tions of  some  very  promising  candidates  for  University 
education,  with  a  view  to  seeking  Holy  Orders. 

The  Fund,  if  duly  supported,  will  have  the  two-fold  good 
effect  of  raising  the  position  of  deserving  men,  and  of  adding 
to  the  supply  of  candidates  for  Ordination,  still  very  far  short 
of  the  demand. 

The  Committee  will  be  influenced  by  no  party  views  in 
administering  the  Funds  committed  to  their  charge  ;  and 
sincerely  hope  that,  by  additional  Offertories,  donations,  and 
annual  subscriptions,  their  hands  may  be  strengthened  for 
the  fulfilment  of  a  work  so  beneficial  to  individuals,  and  so 
important  to  the  Church  in  general. 

Grants  have  already  been  made  in  five  cases,  the  payment 
of  which  began  at  Easter,  1879,  and  will  close  at  Midsummer, 
1884.  As  regards  one-half  of  the  gross  amount  however  the 
Committee  have  been  obliged  to  trust  that  the  necessary 
Funds,  not  yet  provided,  may  be  supplied  in  time  by  the 
liberality  of  members  of  the  Church.  Meanwhile  they  feel 
themselves  precluded  from  incurring  any  further  responsi- 
bilities until  t beir  funds  have  been  materially  increased. 

A  Clergyman  offers  ^100,  to  meet  nine  other  similar  con- 
tributions, as  the  foundation  of  an  invested  fund,  or  small 
endowment,  the  interest  only  of  which  shall  be  available  for 
expenditure. 


VIII.] 


APPENDICES. 


21  I 


APPENDIX  D.— See  p.  197. 

The  iSih  section  of  the' Act  29  &  30  Vict.,  cap.  in.,  is  as 
follows  : — 

'•  When  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  are  or  may  be  in 
receipt  of  any  income  arising  fro.n  estates  that  belong  or 
have  belonged  to  any  dean  or  chapter,  or  any  major  or  minor 
corporation  of  any  cathedral  or  collegiate  church,  the  said 
Commissioners  shall  be  at  liberty  (whether  an  Order  of  Her 
Majesty  in  Council  has  or  has  not  been  passed  in  relation  to 
such  income,  arvd  notwithstanding  any  limitation  contained 
in  any  Act  of  Parliament  as  to  the  stipends  and  allowances 
of  any  of  the  persons  herein-after  mentioned)  out  of  such 
income  to  make  such  provision  as  to  them  may  seem  need- 
ful for  securing  adequate  stipends  and  allowances  to  the 
minor  canons,  schoolmasters,  organists,  vicars  choral,  lay 
clerks,  officers,  choristers,  bedesmen,  servants,  and  other 
members  of  the  cathedral  or  collegiate  church,  and  for  secur- 
ing adequate  sums  of  money  for  the  maintenance  of  any 
existing  college  or  school  in  connexion  with  the  cathedral  or 
collegiate  church." 


APPENDICES. 


[VIIL 


APPENDIX  E. 

CONFIRMATIONS  DURING  THE  LAST  ELEVEN 
YEARS. 

Held  principally  by  the  Bishop'of  Dover  as  Siiffraoan. 


Candidates. 

Number  of 

Year. 

Total. 

Male. 

Female. 

lions. 

1869 

7.48. 

1.825 

2-493 

4318 

34 

2  35! 
2  5(8 

3.680 

6033 

73 

3.075 

56  3 

78 

1,980 

3  256 

5.236 

85 

1.886 
2.428 
2,063 

3-807 
3..65 

4,844 

6,235 
5.223 

70 
107 

85 

2-198 

3-599 

5.797 

93 

2.432 

3  785 

3,462 

?9 
33 

Date  Due 


